


Write it on the Skyline

by capstiel



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Bisexual Soda Kazuichi, Cats, Confessions, Dorks, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Sharing a Bed, Waking Up, after the killing game, slight internalized biphobia, sort of slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:41:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27028252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/capstiel/pseuds/capstiel
Summary: Gundham wakes up after being killed in the virtual reality, and turns to Kazuichi for support as his memories begin to return. Along the way, Kazuichi realizes the way he's feeling about Gundham might not be as platonic as he had expected.
Relationships: Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham
Comments: 33
Kudos: 248
Collections: Celi started reading





	1. awaken

The sky was dark, covered in a thick layer of grey clouds. Normally Kazuichi would be complaining, but today it was a welcome surprise. After day, after day, after week of perfect weather, the thought of a thunderstorm approaching was almost exciting. If he told anyone else on the Island that, they’d probably tease him for being childish, but he knew deep down all of his classmates were probably feeling the same way. 

It hadn’t been long since they’d woken up, pulled back into the “real” world. It hadn’t been easy on any of them, memories of multiple different realities meshing together, things Kazuichi wished he could have just forgotten, were flooding back in waves at the most inconvenient of times. Just that morning he had been eating breakfast alongside his friends when he was suddenly hit with the realization that he had _killed_ someone. He had killed multiple people; it wasn’t a new discovery, but every time he remembered something new he had done during his time influenced by Junko the images in his mind felt more vivid. 

Hajime had noticed the look on his face and politely pulled him away from the table. He was only a little embarrassed, everyone else at the table had been confronting the same sort of feelings, it was comforting to know he wasn’t suffering alone. 

Now, staring out the window inside of his cottage, his thoughts had turned to linger on the ones who hadn’t woken yet. The people that had lost their lives in the virtual reality. A few had already awoken, it was a miracle, something that even the members of the Future Foundation hadn’t even expected. Hiyoko and Ibuki had been the first to wake up, setting off an alarm that sent everyone running. No one could figure out why they were the first to wake up, but no one was complaining, even if only one person had woken up it was still a win. 

Since their awakening, Hajime and the others had decided it would be best to have someone watch over the pods at all times in case someone else woke up. When Ibuki and Hiyoko had woken up they were both foggy and almost in a trance-like state, it had only been a couple of days since then, and they stayed in their cottages most of the time. The others took turns bringing them food and checking on them. 

Mahiro, Peko, Nekomaru, Nagito, Teruteru, Mikan, _Gundham_ : they were all still asleep. Would they all end up awakening? He hoped so, even if they were all terrible people and weirdos, they deserved a second chance, if he got one, so should they. 

He was still lingering on the thought when he was suddenly startled by a knock on his door. Who was it? Hajime coming to check on him? 

He opened the door slowly, even though he knew he had nothing to fear. He was surprised when it wasn’t Hajime standing in front of him. 

“You must come!” It was Sonia, she was breathing heavily, almost frantically, and her face was red as if she had been running. “He’s awake!”

“Slow down Miss Sonia,” Kazuichi was trying his best to remain calm. “ _Who’s_ awake?”

“Gundham!” she exclaimed, “I’ve been on watch!”

Gundham was awake, his chest clenched at the thought. Even if they hadn’t got along very well before this was a miracle. “Okay, okay I’m coming,” Kazuichi scrambled to shove his feet into his tennis shoes, “have you told everyone else?”

“I still must find Akane!” She said. It wasn’t often that Sonia got so worked up, “I’m going to check the restaurant! Head over to the facility!” With that she started running away from Kazuichi’s porch. 

He took a deep breath. Hopefully Gundham was fine, hopefully he would just be in a state like Ibuki and Hiyoko had been.

The walk slash run to the facility was a blur, before he knew it Kazuichi was standing in front of the door to the facility. He caught sight of Fuyuhiko heading his way from the opposite direction. He faced the door in front of him, took a deep breath, and pushed it open. 

The first thing he saw was Hajime’s back, the next thing he saw was Gundham, standing in front of him, eyes glazed over, looking down on Hajime. 

Hajime turned slightly, his face was bleak. Kazuichi was still trying to take in what he was seeing, Gundham was gripping both of Hajime’s arms, was he angry? Was he dangerous? Kazuichi took a few steps forward, there wasn’t much else he could do besides ask. “Hajime,” he said softly, “is everything okay?”

“He doesn’t know what’s going on,” Hajime said.

Kazuichi glanced up towards Gundham, he was disheveled, as to be expected. His hair was falling down around his face, and he wasn’t wearing his red contact, his eyes being the same color as each other was throwing Kazuichi off. 

The door behind them opened again, this time Fuyuhiko entering, “Is everything okay?” He demanded, much louder than Kazuichi had asked. Gunham’s attention turned towards him, glancing over Hajime’s head. 

“He’s not really responsive,” Hajime said as Gundham dropped his arms finally. “Seems a lot like Hiyoko and Ibuki, but he seems a bit angry. He’s probably scared,” Hajime spoke calmly as if Gundham wasn’t standing right in front of him. 

“We should get him to his cottage then?” Fuyuhiko asked.

“Probably our best option,” Hajime nodded. 

“No,” Gundham said, his voice even deeper than usual.

“Did he just speak?” Fuyuhiko asked cautiously. 

“Well it sure as hell wasn’t me,” Kazuichi sighed, “come on let’s get the demon lord out of here.”

Fuyuhiko pulled open the door behind him, light streamed into the room. Kazuichi could see that the rest of the others (minus Hiyoko and Ibuki) were waiting outside. 

“Will you help me lead him out?” Hajime asked Kazuichi, “he’s stronger than the girls were.”

Kazuichi nodded slowly, something about the expression on Gundham’s face was unsettling. 

They each took one of Gundham’s arms. Kazuichi could tell he was unusually warm even through the sleeves of his jacket. He didn’t resist at first, but Kazuichi was still thinking about how he had said no earlier, was that a one time thing?

Leading him out of the facility started out halfway decent, Gundham was stumbling over his own feet, but that made sense, he’d been in a coma after all.

Sonia was twirling a finger through her hair anxiously, “Is he alright?” she asked as they began to walk out of the building. Akane had driven one of the trucks from the military base over. It was much easier than walking all the way back to the cottages.

“No,” Gundham said as Hajime opened the passenger side door of the truck.

“He seems okay,” Kazuichi said to Sonia as confidently as he could manage. Sonia probably cared about Gundham the most out of all of them, he hoped she wouldn’t have to see him in some sort of terrible state. 

“Come on,” Hajime was telling Gundham, “we’re going to get you taken care of.”

“No,” this time his voice sounded more familiar, more like himself. “I am a Lord of darkness, I do not need a mortal’s help-”

He rambled on, Hajime met Kazuichi’s eye partway through. He didn’t know what to do, and neither did Kazuichi. 

“Gundham,” Sonia was approaching the truck, and Kazuichi had the urge to block her way, if Gundham got violent he didn’t want her getting hurt. “Gundham, are you alright?”

He twisted to look at her. Kazuichi was surprised he was even responsive. The girls hadn’t even spoken when they woke up. Maybe it was his demon blood, Kazuichi almost laughed to himself but he knew this wasn’t the time. 

“Son-ia?” Gundham choked out her name, “Sonia,” he repeated. 

“Gundham!” She exclaimed, ‘I’m here!” 

He was staring at her, eyes glazed over. 

Kazuichi was about to just shove him into the truck but suddenly he was sliding downwards, Kazuichi had been holding his arm lightly, but he quickly gripped it harder, trying his best to catch him before he slammed to the dirt beneath him. Hajime on the other side was doing the same thing. 

This surely wasn’t a good sign.

A few hours later, Kazuichi was back in his cottage. It was raining outside, he could hear it hitting the roof. 

After Gundham had passed out, Kazuichi had helped Hajime lift him into the truck. They took him back to his cottage, laid him in bed, and hoped for the best. Sonia had demanded she stay with him, so she was standing guard by his cottage. Kazuichi was worried about her. She was so sweet she might not even notice if Gundham woke up and was planning to hurt her.

He pushed the thought out of his mind, he had to believe in Gundham. It was the only way they would ever be able to move on. 

It was still too early to sleep, but it was storming now so going out sounded even less appealing than usual. It had taken Hiyoko and Ibuki a few days to really snap back to reality, but Kazuichi figured it could be possible that some people would recover quicker than others. Gundham was all about that creepy witchcraft stuff so maybe he did a ritual to come back quicker. 

Not that rituals were even real. 

Gundham’s cottage was on the opposite end of the small path, if anything happened would he be close enough to help? 

More time passed and soon night came, Kazuichi went to bed purely out of boredom. It didn’t take him long to fall asleep, something about spending time in the virtual reality had drained his energy, he still felt like he was drained even weeks after the incident. 

He couldn’t have been asleep for more than a couple of hours when he was woken abruptly by the sound of pounding on his door. 

He jumped out of bed, kicking his sheets to the floor by accident in his hurry. He unlocked the door clumsily and swung it open. 

Standing in his doorway was Gundham Tanaka. 

A flood of questions ran through Kazuichi’s mind, but all that came out was one word: “What?” 

Where was Sonia? How did he get out of the cottage?

“Souda” he said, his voice still sounded like it did earlier. “May I enter your abode?” He asked. A full sentence? 

“Uh- yeah,” he waved Gundham in, the man was soaking wet, just how long had he been outside?

Gundham walked in stiffly, his eyes unfocused, his boots leaving wet marks on the floor. Kazuichi watched him intently as he shut the door behind himself. “What’s going on?” He asked, not sure if Gundham would even respond. “Where’s Sonia?” 

“The Dark Queen is asleep,” Gundham said, “she needs rest to restore her powers.” 

Kazuichi frowned, Sonia was sleeping in his room? No he couldn’t think about that right now. “Okay that’s fine I guess, but why are you here?” 

“My slumber was long enough, I am wide awake.” 

“Um,” Kazuichi couldn’t think of anything to say, “why here?”

“I originally planned to go on the hunt,” Gundham said, “but alas, it is raining, the skies are telling me that the beast I have been scavenging for is currently nowhere to be found.”

Kazuichi opened his mouth to reply, and then closed it after realizing he had no clue what Gundham was talking about. The only thing he gathered was that he didn’t want to be out in the rain. “Alright buddy, I’d tell you to sit down but I don’t want you getting my stuff wet so-”

Gundham laughed loudly and it startled the shit out of Kazuichi.

“Shit man! Don’t do that-”

“You fool, I have no need to sit, I just told you I have rested enough-”

“Yeah, yeah I get it dude,” Kazuichi sighed, exasperated by the conversation and the fact that he had been woken up in the middle of the night to deal with this. Maybe he should call Hajime. “Are you feeling okay? Do you even know what’s going on?”

Gundham looked at him like he was crazy, “well of course- I’ve just returned from a perilous journey to the Netherworld and-”

Kazuichi sighed once more, “alright, look at me.”

Gundham paused mid sentence. “Why do you wish me to gaze upon you, mortal?”

“Just look at me,” Kazuichi just wanted to look him in the eye, if he still looked as foggy as he did earlier he would know to just disregard everything he was saying at the moment, but if he wasn’t this was going to be an entirely different situation to handle.

Gundham looked at him, and Kazuichi didn't know if he should be happy about what he was seeing or not. Gundham’s eyes were still looking a bit glassed over, and his cheeks were flushed. If Kazuichi had to guess, Gundham was probably still burning up, he probably had a fever. 

“Alright, I’m not letting you out of my sight,” Kazuichi announced, “you can just stay here because Miss Sonia needs her beauty sleep.”

“Thank you mortal, I will remember this kindness.”

“Mmhmm” Kazuichi hummed in response, he was plotting how he was going to get Gundham back to sleep. He wasn’t about to stay up all night with a man rambling on with a fever. If only Mikan was here, at least she’d know what to do about a fever. “Dark Lord, why don’t you take off some of those wet clothes.”

“You fiend!” Gundham exclaimed. 

Kazuichi rolled his eyes, “I’m not trying to get you naked stupid, that’s the last thing I want to see. I just want you to lay down for a little bit.”

“I already told you-”

Maybe he _was_ going to have to call Hajime. 

Gundham was grumbling something under his breath, Kazuichi took the liberty to start pulling away wet garments himself. The first thing he grabbed was his scarf, Kazuichi had no clue how he always walked around wearing that thing in tropical weather.

“Mortal! Do not think you can touch me so easily,” Gundham glared, but suddenly he wasn’t looking very well, his eyelids drooping. Images of him passing out earlier flashed through Kazuichi’s mind, and he impulsively got in a position to catch the other man if he fell. Why couldn’t he have just stayed in his own cottage?

As if on cue, Gundham lost control of his body, beginning to slide to the floor. Kazuichi placed one hand on the back of his head (taking notice of how soft his hair was), and wrapped one arm around his waist, trying to help him go down slowly at least. 

_At least he’ll be quiet now,_ Kazuichi thought. Gundham was sat on the floor with his back leaning against the side of the bed. If Kazuichi was nice he’d lift him up and put him in bed, but, well that would be hard to do in his current unconscious state, and he was still wearing damp clothes. Kazuichi looked around the room. He could loan him a pillow, and probably a blanket too. 

He got to work, bending over to unravel Gundham’s scarf, it felt like a wet towel at this point. Next was the jacket, Kazuichi left him in his t-shirt, he wasn’t gonna do anything that would be weird to explain in the morning.

He shoved a pillow behind Gundham’s head, and got an extra sheet out of his drawer, draping it over him awkwardly. There wasn’t much else he could do at the moment. 

With nothing left to do, Kazuichi was left alone with the realization that he was exhausted. It wouldn’t hurt to lay down for a few minutes, right? Without thinking much, he climbed around Gundham, up into his bed, and laid down. He wouldn’t fall asleep, he couldn’t.

  
  



	2. comfort

Kazuichi woke to pounding on his front door. This was becoming a very common occurrence, one that he wasn’t a fan of. 

He almost tripped out of bed, because Gundham was still sleeping on the floor. His face looked so much softer than usual, it would have been cute if it wasn’t Gundham.

Kazuichi opened the door quickly, and was greeted to a very frantic looking Sonia. “I’m so sorry! I fell asleep last night by mistake, Gundham is gone, have you seen him? I’m so very worried!”

Kazuichi smiled sheepishly and opened his door wider, allowing Sonia to see past him. The moment she caught sight of Gundham she rushed into the room. She knelt down over Gundham, and Kazuichi felt a pang of jealousy hit him. He couldn’t help it, he knew it was an inappropriate time to be jealous, but what did Gundham have that he didn’t? Well, a lot of things probably.

“He’s okay, yes?” Sonia was asking Kazuichi, but she was still looking down at Gundham.

“I think so, seems like he has a fever,” Kazuici scratched the back of his head awkwardly, “he passed out again though, which is a little concerning.”

Sonia didn’t reply for a few moments, “we should get Hajime,” she said eventually, “maybe he’ll have an idea of what to do.”

  
  


Hajime took one look at Gundham and then groaned loudly. “It seems like he’s unstable, the girls slept a lot, but they didn’t pass out like this. Maybe it’s related to his fever.”

“Maybe he’s dehydrated,” Fuyuhiko offered, “did he even eat anything yesterday?”

“No,” Sonia crossed her arms over her chest, “I kept telling him to, but apparently he already has been nourished by the netherworld.”

“Yeah, that’s not gonna fly,” Hajime mumbled, “we’re gonna have to get him up and get him to eat.”

“He’s quite stubborn, it must be his demon blood,” Sonia said.

“Honestly he’s such a pain in the as I wouldn’t be surprised if he really _was_ part demon,” Kazuichi scoffed. 

Sonia gave him a stern look in response. 

“Let’s not argue,” Hajime said, “it won’t help Gundham.”

As if he had heard them talking, Gundham began to stir- he had been asleep for almost 12 hours by now after all. As he regained consciousness, a look of confusion grew on his face. Sonia was still close to his side, she smiled widely once he caught her eye. “Sonia?” His voice was hoarse, “what’s going on?”

“Do you have any idea?” She rested a hand on his leg, “you have been in a coma for a long time.”

His eyes widened, and he began to glance around the room, if Kazuichi had to give it a word he’d say Gundham looked worried, but that clearly wasn’t the only emotion he was experiencing. 

“Forgive me Queen,” he was addressing Sonia, “I was under the impression I had been- I had-” Kazuichi had never seen him express so much emotion in a, well, normal way. He seemed to be cutting back on the fantasy dialogue. “I died,” he said bluntly. 

Sonia looked to be on the verge of tears, she was grasping at Gundham’s hand, “oh Gundham,” Kazuichi almost had to look away, this was gag-worthy. “We were trapped in a virtual world! Led to believe it was reality.”

“Ah,” Gundham frowned, “the evils of the world have seemingly grown so advanced that even I have trouble recognizing them all.”

“How do you feel?” Hajime asked, “You seem better than yesterday.”

“Alert,” Gundham said, “I can feel the essence of magic in the room.”

“If it was anyone else saying that I’d be concerned,” Fuyuhiko said.

“Are you hungry?” Hajime asked. “You should eat something.”

Gundham nodded slowly, “yes, I would appreciate some form of sustenance.”

And that was that, in a blur Kazuichi was left behind with Gundham once more. Somehow by the reasoning that it was his cottage, and that Sonia was going to go get his food because she knew his favorites.

It was quiet and awkward in the room, at least in Kazuichi’s opinion. He had no clue what Gundham was thinking, he never did. Half the time he didn’t even understand what he was saying. 

“Souda,” Gundham’s voice startled him. “Will you explain something to me?”

“Uh, yeah sure if I have the answer.”

“Why are the others so concerned for my well being?”

“What? Man come on, I know you’re not that stupid.”

Gundham glared at him, “I killed a man in that virtual reality,” he said, “they have no reason to speak to me so,” he paused, “kindly.”

“Oh,” Kazuichi realized he was sort of being an ass, “dude, you’re not the only one of us who killed somebody- in fact I doubt anyone here is innocent of that.”

“Not all of you,” Gundham shook his head, “when I, for lack of a better word, died, you were clean, are you implying that afterwards-”

“No, no not after, but before,” Kazuichi shuddered at the reminder.

“Before?” Gundham’s frown grew, “that doesn’t make sense.”

“It’ll come back to you,” Kazuichi said, he couldn’t help how strained his voice sounded. “There’s more to it than you can probably remember right now.”

Gundham was looking at him, staring at a way that was beginning to make him a bit uncomfortable, it was as if the other man could see into his soul. “I remember darkness,” he said, “a place even darker than the Netherworld.”

“Yeah, what you’re thinking of quite possibly could be the real world, what's out there right now.”

“Right now?” Gundham usually sounded so sure of himself, this was a change in pace. “The world is in disarray?”

“I hate to be the one to break it to you, but yeah, the world is a god damn shit show right now.”

Gundham was quiet for a few moments. Where was Sonia with food? 

“Souda, I thank you,” Gundham said, “my mind seems to be a bit clouded at the moment. I apologize for intruding on your residence.”

“Man, you don’t have to apologize,” Kazuichi grumbled, “you were running a pretty high fever last night, speaking of-” without thinking much of it, Kazuichi leaned over towards where Gundham was still sitting on the floor to press his hand to his forehead, brushing his dark hair away in the same motion. He just wanted to see if he felt any cooler, but he realized partway through that Gundham probably thought he was being a fucking weirdo.

It was at that same moment that the door opened behind Kazuichi, Sonia had finally returned with food. Kazuichi pulled back quickly. Gundham was still a little warm, but nowhere near as hot as the night before.

“Sorry! I should have knocked!” Sonia exclaimed, and Kazuichi groaned, that is not the idea he wanted her to have of him.

“No worries, my Lady,” Gundham smiled, “your presence is always welcome.”

“Yes! Always!” Kazuichi nodded quickly. 

Sonia was holding a large plate of food in one hand, and a bottle of water in the other, “I have brought nutrients!”

Hours passed, Gundham ate, he slept, he drank a copious amount of water (due to both Sonia and Akane’s pestering), and by the time the sky was dark again he was looking a bit more like himself. Well, minus the hair gel, color contact, eyeliner, and scarf (that was still hanging out to dry in Kazuichi’s bathroom).

“Are you going to be alright by yourself tonight?” Sonia was asking. They had somehow migrated from the floor to Kazuichi’s bed hours ago, but he couldn’t be bothered to say anything. He knew he should just be grateful that Gundham was alive and relatively okay. 

“No need to worry my Lady, I have managed many nights alone. I am strongest in the darkness, you know.”

Sonia giggled, “yes I know.” Kazuichi still didn’t know why they had never left his cottage. At least it seemed like they were finally getting ready to leave. 

Sonia got up first, “Goodnight Gundham,” she said in that sweet voice of hers, “you too, Souda.”

Kazuichi felt his face heat up, “goodnight Miss Sonia,” he stuttered in response, internally cursing his clumsy speech. 

She headed out the front door, and it wasn’t until she shut the door firmly behind herself that Kazuichi realized Gundham wasn’t getting up. In fact he looked perfectly content lounging on _his_ bed. 

“Dude, I know my bed’s comfy, but I’m sure yours is exactly the same,” Kazuichi sighed, standing up off his small couch to walk around the side of the bed. 

“I was thinking,” Gundham said.

“Wow, I can’t believe anything goes on inside of your head,” Kazuichi rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t want to disturb the Dark Queen earlier,” Gundham continued, “the energy wasn’t right in the room to speak of it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I seem to have been granted a vision earlier,” Gundham said, “one of violence and-” his voice cracked. Kazuichi swallowed thickly and sat down on the mattress next to him. 

“I’m not the best at talking things out,” Kazuichi said, “but I’ll listen, if you want.”

Gundham cleared his throat before continuing, “I saw myself take a life that I- I shouldn’t-” he seemed to be having a hard time saying whatever it was that was bothering him. “I took innocent lives for no reason besides my own personal gain, even I, one with with demon blood, do not hold the right to end another being's life.”

He was talking all demon lord again, but Kazuichi was pretty sure it was some sort of defense mechanism. “I know how you’re feeling, I’m pretty sure I haven’t even remembered everything I’ve done yet. New memories still keep popping up.”

Gundham, who had been looking down at his lap, turned his head to look at Kazuichi, “I’m afraid,” he said, and the words shouldn’t have been unexpected, but coming from someone like Gundham, they were.

Kazuichi didn’t know how to reply, and he _definitely_ didn’t know how to reply when he glanced at Gundham and realized he looked like he was about to cry. “Oh,” he said stupidly, “you’re going to be okay, everyone feels the way you do,” Kazuichi tried to sound more confident than he felt. 

It didn’t work very well apparently, because the tears had spilled over Gundham’s eyelids and onto his cheeks. Kazuichi couldn’t think of anything else to do besides hug the big weirdo, so that’s what he did. It was an awkward position due to the way they were sitting, but Gundham didn’t resist, in fact instead he craned his neck to bury his face into Kazuichi’s shoulder. Had he always been like this? Kazuichi had always assumed he’d be one of those people who refused any form of physical contact. 

It was certainly unexpected, but Kazuichi felt good knowing that someone thought high enough of him to trust him to come for comfort. He was just surprised it hadn’t been Sonia. Maybe he was embarrassed to cry in front of a girl. 

He could feel the warmth of Gundham’s face through his white t-shirt, “I know Sonia already asked,” Kazuichi said awkwardly, running his hand up and down Gundham’s back lightly, “but are you going to be okay alone tonight?”

Gundham pulled back slightly, glancing towards Kazuichi’s face. His face and eyes were red from crying, it was heartbreaking. Kazuichi never wanted to see him cry again. He never thought he’d feel so much empathy for his self-proclaimed romantic rival. 

“Because well, you could stay here tonight, just if- like if you didn’t want to be alone,” the words fell out almost as clumsily as they did whenever he spoke to Sonia.

“You are kind, Kazuichi Souda,” Gundham said, and Kazuichi felt his face heat up immensely. He was glad no one else was in the room right now because if they were they might get the wrong idea about what was going on between them. 

“You could even use my shower,” Kazuichi said, before he realized that was probably one of the dumbest things he could have replied with. 

Gundham reached up and ran a hand through his hair. It was longer than it had been inside the virtual reality, his shaved sides filling in with dark hair, and his bangs drooping down onto his forehead, framing his face. “I suppose it might rejuvenate some of my power, you know they say hot water is a pathway to Hell.”

Kazuichi couldn’t help but crack a smile, somehow this was a lot easier to deal with than sad Gundham. He gave him a manly pat on the back and stood up. Whew, that was draining. He headed towards the bathroom to make sure his shower was presentable, and found a few clean towels. Maybe taking care of Gundham for now was a good way to repay all of the others, especially Hajime, for how much they had been helping him.

Gundham was standing when Kazuichi returned from the bathroom, he looked sort of like a ghost, tall and lanky and pale. Without his scarf and jacket on, he was showing more of his skin than Kazuichi usually saw. “Miss Sonia will probably appreciate it,” Kazuichi joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

Gundham gave him a look of confusion, but didn’t say anything. Kazuichi mentally facepalmed. Why was this so awkward?

Gundham headed towards the bathroom, and Kazuichi made a point to turn around, whoever designed a bathroom with glass walls must have been crazy. 

With the sound of running water as an indicator the shower had started, Kazuichi’s mind began to wander. Why him? There were a lot of other people Gundham could have gone to for help. Hajime was always the go to for most of them, so why _him_?

They hadn’t really been friends before, not really in high school, not in the virtual reality either. Kazuichi knew it was mostly his fault, he had always been jealous of Gundham for taking Sonia’s attention from him. They seemed to get along well, Sonia did seem to understand him better than anyone else. It was hard to watch but Kazuichi figured it was time he man up and accept that Sonia probably wasn’t going to reciprocate his feelings anytime soon. 

Were Gundham and Sonia even a thing? He assumed they were, but he’d never really asked. Maybe he’d ask Gundham when he got out of the shower. If he was feeling better, of course. 

The water shut off and Kazuichi found himself feeling a bit antsy. Was Gundham really planning on staying all night? He knew he shouldn’t complain, he was more worried about how awkward it was going to be than anything else. 

Gundham re-emerged from the bathroom followed by a cloud of steam. He looked so human, hair still damp, but pushed out of his face, a towel swung around his shoulders. What really stood out though was his very obvious lack of clothing. A towel was wrapped securely over his waist, Kazuichi could see his bare chest, and the bottoms of his long legs and bare feet below it. 

“Dude,” Kazuichi said stupidly.

“I feel refreshed, Gundham announced, oblivious to the look on Kazuichi’s face. “The steam penetrated my skin and re-energized me.” 

“Do you need something to wear?” Kazuichi choked out, already heading towards his dresser. It was true that his clothes were dirty, he’d been wearing them since he was in the pod.

“I do not want your clothing, mortal,” Gundham looked as if he had been offended. “I am not ashamed of this human vessel.”

“Okay, well I don’t want to see it,” Kazuichi scoffed, "so you’re going to wear something of mine, take it or leave it.”

Gundham grumbled something, but Kazuichi didn’t hear most of it because he was digging through his drawer for something that would fit him. Gundham was taller than him, but it wasn’t his ankles that Kazuichi cared about covering anyways. He finally found a pair of sweatpants that he liked to lounge in, and a plain white t-shirt; they would be suitable as pajamas anyways. He tossed them in Gundham’s direction, and Gundham flailed trying to catch them. 

“I know you’re rejuvenated now, but I’m tired,” Kazuichi said, “so you can do whatever demon stuff you want but be quiet about it.” 

“To thank you for your hospitality I shall abide,” Gundham said. 

Kazuichi turned around, hoping the other man had pants on. He did, thank god, and they were too short for him, the elastic around the bottom of the legs was wrapped around his calves instead of his ankles. “Well then, I guess, uh,” he glanced towards his bed, which was looking smaller by the second, “let me know if you need anything.”

Gundham sat down on his small couch, and Kazuichi flipped the lights off, he felt like he wasn’t going to be able to sleep very well knowing Gundham was sitting awake in his room. Then again, he’d slept with Gundham in the room the night before, this was pretty much the same. He adjusted in bed until he was comfy, and let his mind wander in just about any direction it wanted to until he finally fell asleep.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much for all the feedback guys! this is my first attempt at a Danganronpa fic so I was a little worried about the way I write the characters, I'm glad it hasn't been too glaringly ooc so far :)


	3. friends

Kazuichi woke up feeling heavy and warm, it was a nice feeling so he didn’t bother to open his eyes right away. He wondered if Gundham was doing okay, he hadn’t woken him up during the middle of the night, so hopefully that was a good sign. 

Still squeezing his eyes shut, Kazuichi reached his arms above himself to stretch, or at least he  _ tried  _ to. Instead his hand bumped into something that didn’t belong where it was. He finally opened his eyes to figure out what was in his way, and he inhaled sharply when he found Gundham’s face nuzzled into his chest. One of his long arms was sprawled across his stomach, and one of his legs was on top of Kazuichi’s. He was clearly still asleep. Had he done this on purpose? He was certainly a good blanket, but if anyone else saw this they’d  _ definitely  _ get the wrong idea.

He didn’t know how to wake Gundham up without getting cursed or something, so he resorted to shaking his shoulder softly. Gundham made a noise of protest, but Kazuichi took that as a good sign, the sooner he woke up the sooner he’d get off of him.

“It’s not yet time,” he grumbled, and that was the weirdest good morning Kazuichi had ever heard.

“Well it’s time for me, so move your ass,” Kazuichi grumbled, “you can keep sleeping, just let me up now.”

Gundham’s eyes flickered open, “fine,  _ mortal. _ ”

“Never thought you’d be a cuddler,” Kazuichi commented offhandedly as Gundham moved enough for him to get up.

“I was simply absorbing some of your vital energy,” Gundham said, “physical contact is the easiest and most efficient method. I am not a  _ cuddler. _ ”

“Well whatever, next time save it for your girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Gundham tilted his head.

“Yeah, Miss Sonia.”

“The Dark Queen?”

Kazuichi nodded.

“She is not my girlfriend,” Gundham said, and Kazuichi spun around quickly.

“She’s  _ not _ ?” 

“Our energies are not compatible in that way,” Gundham said, “though she is simply marvelous, I’m honored you would assume such a thing about us.”

_ So she just hates me then,  _ Kazuichi thought. “Man if you two aren’t compatible what  _ is _ compatible by your standard?”

Gundham’s face began to turn pink, and he fumbled as if trying to cover it with the scarf he wasn’t currently wearing. “You’re brave to ask such a daring question, mortal. You’d be wise not to ask again.”

Kazuichi didn’t feel threatened in the least, but he didn’t push the subject. “I think I’m gonna head out to get breakfast, you want me to bring you anything? Or you wanna come with?”

Gundham scratched the back of his head, “I suppose I could spend some time outside of this living establishment.”

“I’m sure the others would love to see you,” Kazuichi smiled genuinely, plus it would finally get Gundham out of his hair. 

Kazuichi got dressed quickly, just throwing a hoodie and jeans on, Gundham was still wearing Kazuichi’s sweatpants, but was putting on his scarf, jacket, and boots on with it. He wondered if he’d put his hair up soon, or his red contact and eyeliner. It would be comforting to see, Kazuichi figured, this Gundham was too human-looking, too relatable.

“Souda,” Gundham said, as they were about to walk out the door, “could you not mention the- um,” he was glancing at his feet.

“Yeah man, I won’t mention anything,” he said, he figured Gundham meant the crying, but Kazuichi was more concerned about  _ anyone,  _ literally  _ anyone _ learning about the cuddling.

  
  


The restaurant was mostly empty when they arrived, which was a blessing in Kazuichi’s opinion, less people there to see him and Gundham walk in together. Hajime was the first to notice their arrival, closely followed by Sonia. Her eyes lit up immediately, “Gundham! I have been awaiting you! I have someone- well multiple someones here to see you!”

Gundham rushed over immediately, leaving Kazuichi by himself for the first time since, well, a few days ago at this point. He followed behind at an awkward pace, aiming to sit near Hajime. 

“Were you with him last night?” Hajime asked him softly as he sat down. Gundham was sufficiently distracted, grinning ear to ear it was probably the happiest Kazuichi had ever seen him. Sonia had brought his hamsters with her to the restaurant, which Kazuichi figured probably wasn’t very sanitary, but nonetheless Gundham was beaming. 

“Yeah, he’s doing okay,” Kazuichi smiled, “a lot better than Ibuki and Hiyoko if I’m being honest.”

“Let’s hope it stays that way,” Hajime’s eyes were on Gundham, who was sitting across the table, letting his hamsters run up and down his arms. “The others will probably get here soon, they said they’d all meet here to hear about Gundham.”

“Things are looking up,” Kazuichi agreed, “maybe the girls will join us today.”

“Akane said Ibuki was feeling pretty riled up yesterday, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“I think I’m gonna go get something to drink,” Kazuichi placed his palms on the table, “hey Lord of Darkness, you want anything?”

Gundham’s attention was on him immediately, “apple juice,” he said firmly. 

“Alright,” Kazuichi watched Sonia’s face change expression, just mildly, it looked contemplative. She was watching him, he realized. He forced a smile in her direction and spun around to go get himself a nice glass of chocolate milk. Something about Sonia this morning was different, she wasn’t making him feel all nervous because of her beauty, she was making him feel nervous because of the weird way she was looking at him. Oh well, any attention was better than no attention, right?

He headed back to the table with two glasses in hand, and was greeted with the sight of Akane and Ibuki. Ibuki was talking so loudly Kazuichi almost forgot she had been recovering from a coma for the past week. 

He sat back down next to Hajime, and slid Gundham’s apple juice across the table, Gundham caught it without even looking, he was listening intently to whatever Ibuki was going on about.  “-And then I said, no! Ibuki is picking the next song!” She spotted Kazuichi and stopped mid story to say, “hey dude!”

“Good to see you,” Kazuichi laughed. The atmosphere felt so warm, he wasn’t used to so much happiness in one room.

“I was sayin we should throw a welcome back to the land of the living party for Gudham,” she smiled. Kazuichi tried not to remember what had happened the last time she threw a party. “We could play some like super emo shit for him, and put up halloween decorations!”

“Gundham isn’t really the emo type,” Sonia smiled sheepishly.

“What are you even talking about,” Akane laughed, “he’s the most emo dude I’ve ever seen!”

“Don’t worry my Queen, they’re just mistaking my dark powers for dark taste in popular culture.”

“What kind of music do you like then?” Akane asked, arching a brow.

Gundham looked away, hiding behind his scarf. It reminded Kazuichi of that morning. He looked nothing less than adorable.

Wait no, that wasn’t true, he must've confused Gundham and Sonia there for a second.

“I bet he listens to girl groups,” Kazuichi found himself saying, to clear his mind from that  _ weird  _ train of thought.

“There is nothing wrong with that!” Gundham exclaimed loudly.

Ibuki was laughing like crazy, “aw did you like my old group?”

“They were a group of very talented female artists!” Gundham sputtered, “but I approved of your decision to leave, one must be true to their own heart.”

“Yes staying true to your heart’s desires is very important,” Sonia agreed firmly.

“Gundham I think you’ve grown softer,” Hajime chuckled.

“Gundham has always been this way,” Sonia said as if he was stupid, “he has always been first and foremost, kind of the heart.”

Kazuichi felt like he was watching some sort of twisted Disney movie. 

“Kindness is a strength, I do not know what is being insinuated.”

Kazuichi scoffed, if only they knew he wasn’t just a softy, he was a  _ cuddler. _

“Everyone here is kind,” Akane said.

Kazuichi snorted, “speak for yourself.”

“What are you implying, Souda?” Gundhan tilted his head to the side, “you’re among the kindest.”

His face must have turned three shades darker, “shut up man!”   


“Aw,” Ibuki cooed, “that’s so sweet Gund-y.”

This was going downhill fast, but everyone was happy so whatever, Kazuichi figured he could take a little bit of teasing. 

“Thank him!” Sonia demanded.

Kazuichi groaned, “thank you, Gundham,” he said, with as much sarcasm as he could muster. 

“You are welcome mortal, I know it is not everyday you are complemented by someone of my standing,” if he didn’t know Gundham he’d think that Gundam was  _ teasing  _ him.

“You’re lucky I respect you,” Kazuichi grumbled.

“Respect?” Fuyuhiko had entered the room, “since when do you respect him?”

“What? Since always!”

“Best to change the subject,” Hajime laughed.

“I have no other word on the subject,” Gundham said, and then slid his empty glass towards Kazuichi, “get me a refill, mortal.”

Spending time alone in his cottage was a lot less rewarding then Kazuichi had expected. He thought with Gundham gone he’d be able to relax, but instead his mind was in a state of disarray. He couldn’t stop thinking about breakfast that morning, the way the others had been teasing him, the way even Gundham seemed to be joining in. 

Even weirder was the look Sonia had given him. It was true she generally looked at him like he was an insect she wished she could get rid of, but this look was different, and it had only occurred after he had offered Gundham something to drink. Was she surprised that he had any sort of decency in him? He knew he was sort of an ass at times, but he didn’t think he came off  _ that  _ terribly. 

Maybe he should man up and ask her directly, it’s not like she could really say anything to him she hadn’t before, he’d been rejected countless times by her, there wasn’t much worse than that. 

She was probably off with Gundham now, though. Even if they weren’t dating, they were certainly close. What did Gundham mean when he said their energies didn’t match? They were always so in sync. 

He still couldn’t figure out why it was bothering him so much, but he was pretty sure it was on the tip of his tongue. 

He figured maybe he should go find something to do, sitting inside all day was bound to just lead to even more overthinking, maybe he’d go see what Hajime or Fuyuhiko were up to. 

He pushed open his front door and was met with,  _ something,  _ sitting on his porch, he almost jumped backwards at the sight. 

Kazuichi didn’t even know cats  _ lived  _ on the island. He’d never seen one here before. And it was just sitting on his porch, looking up at him, even. As if someone told it to. It’s fur was mostly black, besides some white on its chest and paws. Kazuichi was completely confused. 

He knelt down, surprised the cat hadn’t run from him the moment he opened the door. It sniffed at his hand when he held it out, and he really wasn’t usually a fan of cats but this one was being so friendly it was hard to resist running a hand along it’s back. 

Kazuichi glanced up for a moment, there was only one person who would be able to coerce a random cat to be nice to him. Why, though? Was this some sort of sign he didn’t understand?

The cat was circling him, and rubbing against his legs. He was going to have to find Gundham, huh? Just when he thought he had finally escaped him. 

He had no clue where Gundham would even be, in the virtual reality he had never had a reason to go looking for the other man. His cottage was probably the first reasonable place to check, and also the closest. 

The cat was following him as he walked down the path towards Gundham’s cottage. This was ridiculous, this was one of the weirdest days he’d experienced since he’d been inside of the virtual reality.

He knocked on Gundham’s door a few times, and waited a few moments impatiently before stalking away. Where else should he check? Sonia’s? That would be awkward, especially after the weird looks she’d been shooting him at breakfast. 

It was a necessary evil, though, he decided. He had to know why a cat he had never seen before was following him around like a dog. 

Sonia’s front door felt large and imposing in front of him, but he worked up the courage to knock without much hesitation. Nothing but silence from the other side. He groaned, where was Gundham? He should be resting, not out on the town. 

The cat was still trotting after him when he ran into Hajime near the hotel lobby. He noticed the cat almost immediately, and raised a brow. 

“I’m blaming this on Gundham,” Kazuichi rolled his eyes. “It was sitting on my porch and now it won’t stop following me.”

“Maybe it’s hungry,” Hajime said, “I’ve never even seen a cat here before.”

“Have you seen him? I want to tell him to make the cat go away,” Kazuichi glanced down at the animal.

“I haven’t seen him since breakfast,” Hajime shook his head, “hopefully that’s not a bad sign.”

Kazuichi felt his chest tighten, he hadn’t even thought of that. The night before Gundham had been a mess, it wouldn’t make sense for him to be perfectly fine after just one night. Kazuichi took a deep breath, “I’m gonna keep looking.”

Gundham liked animals, so by proxy he also liked nature. That was Kazuichi’s train of thought, anyway. He doubted Gundham would actually be at the beach, but it was worth a try. 

The sun was hot against his bare arms as he trekked into the sand. He stood facing the water for a moment, it was peaceful hearing the waves and smelling the salt in the air. 

The peace was disrupted abruptly, Kazuichi spun around quickly, it sounded like someone had screamed, or yelped more like. He ran towards the direction of the sound, feet sinking into the sand with every step. It wasn’t long before he caught sight of Sonia, she was wearing a swimsuit, which would have been distracting in any other situation, but Gundham was with her, it looked as if he had passed out, back flat against the sand, he was clad in swim trunks, his white t-shirt and his scarf. 

“What happened?” Kazuichi demanded, falling to his knees in the sand next to Gundhaml. 

“I thought some fresh air would do him good,” Sonia sounded as if she was on the verge of tears, “it must have been the heat.”

A frown grew on Kazuichi’s face, he placed a hand on Gundham’s face without thinking much of it. He was warm, but it didn’t seem out of the ordinary for someone who had been standing out in the sun. “Maybe he’s dehydrated,” Kazuichi said. “I don’t know much about health stuff, we gotta get him inside though.”

Sonia was looking at him with pursed lips, “unfortunately, even though my arms are quite strong I do not think I could carry him even if I tried.”

Kazuichi sighed, of course. Sonia was going to be there to watch him struggle to pick up the other man. Luckily he was a beanpole, the many layers of clothing he usually donned made him look much bigger than he was in reality. Kazuichi adjusted the way he was crouching in the sand, trying to figure out the easiest way to pick him up.

“Whose cat is that?” Sonia asked as he shoved one arm underneath Gundham’s knees. 

“Huh? Oh yeah, that’s why I was looking for him in the first place,” Kazuichi glanced back towards the cat in question. “It’s been following me around all day, I thought it was probably his doing.”

“Hmm, Gundham has been with me all day,” Sonia said, and oh that was weird, that was really weird. He was still going to ask when the big lug woke up, though. 

It took more effort than Kazuichi would like to admit to lift Gundham up, he was a fair bit taller than he was after all. Cradling him bridal style alone was hard enough, walking to the nearest shelter was going to be a nightmare. He was most certainly not going to tell Sonia that, though. 

He glanced down at Gundham, whose face was contorted into some sort of pained expression. “He’s going to be fine, right?” Sonia asked, she was trailing behind him.

“Yeah, of course,” Kazuichi said, “he’s in good hands.” Quite literally, he grinned. 

They continued on, and they were halfway to the ranch when Kazuichi felt Gundham’s head move against his chest. He glanced down quickly, hoping he was waking up.

His eyes fluttered open, and met Kazuichi’s almost immediately. “What?” Gundham asked, voice soft. 

“You passed out,” Kazuichi said, “do you remember?”

“At the beach?” Gundham asked, “are you holding me?”

Kazuichi sighed, “yes to both questions, you should be grateful I was there to sweep you up. Usually that’s reserved for princesses.”

“Dark Lord is close enough,” Gundham mumbled, and his eyes slid shut again.

“No,” Kazuichi said, “you better stay awake.”

“You are warm,” Gundham said, eyes still shut.

“Gundham!” Sonia startled Kazuichi by speaking up, “stay awake!”

“He’s just being a drama queen, I’m gonna put him down and make him walk by himself.”

Gundham’s eyes snapped open at that. “I demand you put me down!”

Kazuichi complied, helping him land on his feet as gently as he could. “You should still go back to your cottage. You need rest, clearly.”

Gundham glared at him, but then seemed to have finally caught sight of the cat, which Kazuichi had almost forgotten about. He dropped to his knees and Kazuichi was almost worried he was about to pass out again. “Who is this?” He demanded.

“You didn’t send him?” Kazuichi asked, feeling like an idiot.

“What? No, of course not.”

“It’s been following me around all day.”

Gundham twisted around to look at Kazuichi with wide eyes. It was hard to believe he had been asleep just moments ago. “She has been following you?” His face was flushed, was he sick?

“Yeah, I came looking for you to ask you about it,” Kazuichi grinned nervously.

“It’s not often one possesses the power to attract a familiar,” he said. 

Sonia gasped dramatically, “this is wonderful news!”

Kazuichi crossed his arms over his chest, “I don’t even want a cat!”

“She has chosen you,” Gundham was lifting up the cat, “you must not take this lightly. It means you possess much more magical prowess than I originally noticed.”

Kazuichi sighed, “yeah, alright, and that means?”

“Perhaps it is unintentionally my doing,” Gundham muttered, “I may have unintentionally transferred some of my essence to you.”

“Alright, let’s stop there,” Kazuichi flushed, Sonia was still watching them curiously. “Maybe we can talk about this later.”

“Most definitely,” Gundham nodded. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gundham: aight boutta head out *passes out*  
> thanks again for all the support!!!


	4. questioning

Later did come, but not until after dinner. Kazuichi had left Sonia and Gundham behind once they made it back to his cottage. Kazuichi couldn’t take another moment of awkward interaction between himself and Gundham, especially not while Sonia was around. 

The next time he ran into Gundham, it was dark outside, and it was more like Gundham ran into him. Earlier that day he had entrusted Gundham to watch the cat, and he happily obliged, but made sure to tell Kazuichi he would be returning the cat later that night. Apparently bonding with your familiar was important, or something. 

Gundham was standing on his porch, the cat was standing next to him. “Hello,” he said, “may I come in?”

Kazuichi waved him in, even though he wasn’t thrilled about the idea. 

“I would like to discuss something with you,” Gundham said, once the door was shut behind himself. 

“What is it, man?”

“I would like to apologize,” he said, wringing his hands together, “you did not ask for this burden.”

“What are you talking about?” Kazuichi frowned, even if he was talking about the cat it didn’t make sense.

“Magic is a great burden, not to be taken lightly.”   


“Yeah man, I know, I know.”

“I am ashamed that I was unable to escape loaning you some of my own energy. If you would allow me, I would be more than happy to guide you,” Gundham was buried nose-deep in his scarf. “I believe with the right training you could reach a very high level.”

Kazuichi felt like he was missing something, why was he all blushy about it? Was he nervous? “That sounds like a high honor coming from you,” Kazuichi said, not sure why he felt so pressured to offer up a response that was equal in nature. 

“Excellent!” Gundham threw his head back and laughed.

“Yeah, hey man, are you feeling okay? You passed out earlier,” Kazuichi was gnawing on his bottom lip, “you sure you’re up for magic training?”

“It was a mere set back,” Gundham said, “simple misfortune that will not be repeated.”

“Ah, okay, I hope not,” Kazuichi sat down on the edge of his bed. He took the words lightly, of course Gundham had no idea if it would happen again or not.

Gundham was looking at him with an emotion in his eyes that Kazuichi didn’t think he’d ever seen before, he couldn’t put a finger on it. 

“Uh,” Kazuichi felt awkward, “we’ll start tomorrow, then?”

“Yes,” Gundham didn’t move. 

“You sure you’re okay?” Kazuichi asked, and something seemed to finally click in Gundham’s mind. He took a few steps towards the bed, the cat following along, jumping up to lay near Kazuichi. 

“They keep coming,” Gundham sighed, running a hand through his hair. “The memories. Most, if not all, have been malicious.”

“Oh,” Kazuichi frowned, and patted the bed next to himself. Nothing wrong with helping a friend out. “I’m listening.”

Gundham took the invitation without hesitation. “They come in waves, like a whole flood at once,” he said. “And even for someone like me, with extensive magical training, it is not easy to relocate my attention when it is happening.”

“That sounds rough,” Kazuichi had had a similar experience near the beginning, just a couple of days out of the pod. Luckily, or maybe not, he had been alone in his cottage. It was the middle of the night and he had been having trouble sleeping, the memories came back in a blur, a dozen all melding together. He screamed when it happened, he cried too. If it was happening to Gundham at random times throughout the day and he wasn’t aware, he must be mentally stronger than him by far. 

The cat had walked across Kazuichi’s lap, onto Gundham’s, and he was petting it softly, “I do not know how to keep it at bay,” he said. 

“Me neither,” Kazuichi admitted, “but you must be stronger than me to deal with it the way you have been.”

“I have become accustomed to keeping certain emotions under my own control,” Gundham said. “Considering I’m no longer as vulnerable as I was when I first awakened, I have been able to, well, not show it.”

Kazuichi couldn’t help but remember the image of the other man crying, he never wanted to see it again, but bottling up his emotions didn’t sound good either. “Everyone here has experienced what you’re feeling to some extent,” Kazuichi said, “it’s okay to show a little weakness. No one will judge you.”

“It is not so simple,” Gundham glanced up to meet Kazuichi’s gaze, “I’m sure even a mortal such as yourself would understand.”

“I’m here,” Kazuichi said, “I’m not the best at advice or whatever, but I’m here.” Why hadn’t he gone to Sonia, though? He still couldn’t rid himself of the thought, what did he have that she didn’t? Should he just ask?

Gundham looked conflicted, “I fear you may be uncomfortable around me.”

“Huh?” Kazuichi frowned, “Is there something you’re not telling me?” Sure, Gundham was strance, maybe a little weird, but he wouldn’t say he was uncomfortable. He was weird too, after all. 

Gundham took a deep breath, “I’m not sure what the best way to say this is. I assumed you already knew, not that it’s very pertinent to the present situation anyways- just for your comfort’s sake-”

Kazuichi was getting worried, “don’t worry dude, I’m open minded. I mean you’re already kind of eccentric, I know that,” he smiled, who would have thought they’d even be able to maintain a civil conversation without Sonia being involved?

“I know that some people are uncomfortable around people, of, er,” he paused and then finally got to the point, “I do not feel attraction to mortals of the opposite gender.”

“You had me worried!” Kazuichi couldn’t help but exclaim, “dude I don’t care, you’re still the same to me,” he said. Internally his mind had gone a bit blank though,  _ that’s  _ why he wasn’t dating Sonia.

Gundham looked relieved, “some mortals are not so understanding, I appreciate you.”

Kazuichi smiled, and then a thought hit him. He was straight, right? Of course he was. It was perfectly normal that he thought Gundham was gorgeous, just because he was straight didn’t mean he was blind. And of course he wanted to try to make him feel better, because he was going through a rough time and they were sort of buddies. And he was a pretty good cuddler, but Kazuichi was sure he only thought that because he was touch starved or something.

Gundham was looking at him sort of intensely. How long had he been lost in thought?

“Uh anyways,” Kazuichi resisted the urge to face palm, “is there anything I should do for the cat tonight? Like feed it or something?”

“I fed it before coming here,” Gundham said, looking down at the animal in question, which was curled up on the opposite of Kazuichi. “It would be good to set out some water, though. Cats are very independent creatures.”

“Alright, I can probably handle that,” Kazuichi nodded. “Guess that’s all, huh?”

Gundham nodded, “I won’t bother you any longer tonight, but I hope tomorrow you are ready to begin training.”

“Okay, yeah, for sure!” Kazuichi grinned, at least it would give him something different to do. 

Gundham stood up, heading towards the door. Kazuichi hadn’t had a night to himself since he had come out of his coma, it felt almost wrong to let him walk out the door. 

Nonetheless, he left with a small wave, leaving Kazuichi alone with his thoughts. His mind had become increasingly scrambled throughout the past few days, not only just because of regaining memories, but because he was pretty sure he was having some sort of sexuality crisis. He didn’t have anything against gay people of course, but he never thought that he would even have to question if he was really straight. His whole life he had been entranced by women, he never stopped to think if the way he felt about men was anything relatively close to the same. He didn’t even think he could be into dudes like that.

Sure, some of them had nice faces, or a nice build, but would he kiss a guy? Would he, ugh,  _ fuck  _ a guy?

An image flashed into his mind at that last thought, Gundham leaning over him, shirtless, face red and pupils blown. 

Kazuichi’s eyes widened, it wasn’t a bad thought, in fact it was sort of  _ hot.  _

He shook the idea away, if he was going to fantasize about  _ any  _ man, it wasn’t going to be Gundham, that was just too weird.

Kazuichi leaned back in bed. How was he supposed to know for sure if he liked guys? Maybe he was just making it up. Then again, contemplating fantasizing men probably wasn’t something straight people did. 

Gundham on top of him, leaning over, kissing his neck; him grabbing upwards and pulling his waist down to meet his own-

Kazuichi took a deep breath, that wasn’t a bad image at all. 

Why was it  _ now  _ that his brain decided to give him a sexuality crisis? 

Staring up at his ceiling, Kazuichi wished he had something better to do than daydream. He wasn’t sure what was worse, being left alone to overthink, or being involved in the chaos that Gundham had been causing ever since he woke up. 

And now he had a cat to worry about too, he recalled as he felt the mattress sink beside him. What the hell.

It was going to be a long night, he figured. It still wasn’t even that late, just past ten. He figured getting some fresh air might help, taking a short walk couldn’t hurt. 

The air outside was cool, but comfortable with long sleeves on. It was a mostly cloudless night, and the stars were speckling the sky clearly. It was much nicer than inside his cramped room, even though he was just as alone. He wondered if everyone else was already asleep. Was there anyone he could even go to about this weird issue. Would they judge him if he told them he was questioning his sexualtiy? Was this the fear that Gundham felt telling him that he was gay? If it was, the man had guts.

Having wandered a bit, Kazuichi found himself glancing down into the pool, his face reflected just barely on the surface. Maybe he should just go with the flow, and stop thinking about it. There wasn’t much of a point questioning his sexuality if no one even wanted to date him in the first place. He could worry about it again if that ever changed. 

He was starting to get cold, and he wasn’t feeling much better, but at least he wouldn’t have to think about it while he was sleeping. He began to head back towards his cottage, hair being pushed back by the breeze. 

After multiple days of chaos, it almost felt too quiet as he walked up to his front door, a good night’s rest was definitely needed. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1\. thank you guys for the continued support! It's great inspiration to keep writing!!  
> 2\. parts of this chapter were a little hard to write, so sorry for any awkward dialogue hahaha  
> 3\. chapters might come out a bit slower now because I had these 4 pre-written, and now I actually have to write the rest real time, but I'm definitely not abandoning the fit or anything haha


	5. rest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished this chapter a lot faster than I expected to haha, enjoy!!

Kazuichi, and the cat he still hadn’t named, were standing in front of the hotel lobby. It was pretty early in the morning, the air was still almost as cool as it had been the night before. Gundham should be showing up any minute, he had no idea what kind of weird stuff he was about to be told to do, but he figured he could always just refuse if it was something  _ super  _ weird. 

He had slept better than expected the night before, which was a blessing. Crisis averted. Hopefully he wouldn’t have to worry about that again for a while. 

He caught sight of Gundham heading around the side of the pool, and he grinned widely. It slowly began to fade as he approached though. Kazuichi rushed to meet him in the middle, “man, are you okay?” Gundham looked like he hadn’t slept a wink. 

“Of course! I am the Dark Lord Supreme! I am always okay,” he laughed obnoxiously. 

“Don’t lie dude,” the bags under his eyes were terrible. On the other hand, he couldn’t help but notice he was wearing his red contact.

Gundham glanced around quickly, “the evils of my mind have been making themselves more clear to me,” he said when he was sure no one was around to hear him. Kazuichi wondered why he was so self conscious about it. 

“You coulda come and got me,” Kazuichi said, “you don’t have to go through it alone.”

“I am perfectly capable of handling it on my own,” Gundham said, and kneeled down to look at the cat instead. 

Kazuichi figured it would be best not to push the subject, it was obviously a sensitive area. ”Wanna grab something to eat before we start training, or whatever?”

“Having a good breakfast is important for extensive training,” Gundham said firmly, and began to walk towards the doors. He was fully dressed in his normal get up, boots, jacket, and scarf. Kazuichi followed him inside, Gundham was walking ahead of him stiffly, something was clearly wrong, maybe someone else would be able to pry it out of him. 

Inside the restaurant, Akane was sitting at a table alone with a huge plate of food in front of herself. “You guys!” she exclaimed through a mouthful, “where have you been?”

“Sleeping?” Kazuichi frowned, “what do you mean?”

“Everyone else is at the facility,” Akane said, “Fuyuhiko saw some weird readings, like a couple people were gonna wake up.”

“Already?” Kazuichi’s eyes widened.

“That is amazing news!” Gundham said, “I hope they awaken with high spirits!”

“Yeah,” Akane took another bite of food, “can’t wait to hear what crazy shit Komaeda has to say.”

Kazuichi shuddered at the thought. “Should probably go check on them,” he glanced towards Gundham. 

Gundham was standing in front of a chair, hands clasped on the back on the seat. “You are free to go, I think I may stay here for a while.”

Akane glanced between him and Kazuichi. “Well I’m gonna head back out once I’m done eatin’.”

Kazuichi nodded, yeah that made sense. Why didn’t Gundham want to go though? It was true he didn’t really seem close to anyone in particular in the group besides Sonia, but would that be enough to stop him from visiting?

Kazuichi pulled a chair out next to where Gundham was standing and sat down, “I’ll stay with you,” he said, trying not to attract Akane’s attention. Luckily she was more focused on the food in front of her than the conversation they had been having. 

“You do not have to stay,” Gundham said, “you should go see what’s going on.”

“I have training to do, remember?”

Gundham looked surprised at that remark, “you-” he glanced towards Akane and then back to Kazuichi. “You’re really dedicated?”

“Of course!” 

“Come by later!” Akane said, standing up, Kazuichi was amazed by how quickly her plate had been cleared.

“Yeah for sure!”

As she left, Kazuichi turned to face Gundham head on, “why don’t you wanna go to the facility?”

Gundham was wringing his hands together, “I’m sensing a dark aura coming from that place.”

“Bad thoughts?” Kazuichi asked, talking to Gundham was like translating a foreign language sometimes. 

“Bad memories,” he expanded, “if I go to that place I fear I may once again be reminded of what I did in a past life.”

“I don’t like it either,” Kazuichi admitted, “gives me the creeps.”

Gundham was tapping his fingers against the table, “there is no need to worry for me, mortal. I hold immense power that you cannot even comprehend, a simple setback such as bad memories will not affect me in the long term.”

Kazuichi took a deep breath, “you’re kind of an idiot.”

Gundham glared. 

“I’m trying to help you, ya know? I care about you and stuff.”

Gundham’s glare softened, “I appreciate your concern,” he glanced up from looking down up the table to look at Kazuichi. “You are much more intricate of a person than one would first assume.”

Kazuichi blushed, “I’m not fishing for compliments.”

“You deserve them.”

Kazuichi didn’t think his face could get any redder, and he didn’t have a scarf to hide behind like Gundham. “Better chill out or I’ll think you’re flirting with me.”

Gundham surprised him by offering him an absolutely tantalizing smirk that took his breath away. 

Luckily, the moment was interrupted by the sound of Ibuki’s voice coming from downstairs, in the lobby. Kazuichi had no idea what she was yelling about, but he figured it was a great excuse to get out of whatever weird conversation he had found himself involved in. If Gundham was in a good enough mood to  _ tease  _ him, then he could go see Ibuki for a few minutes. 

He stood up, and Gundham’s eyes followed him. 

Ibuki appeared at the top of the stairs, “they made me leave,” she announced as she caught sight of Kazuichi. “Apparently I was being too loud to be around the others, but they’re in comas! Maybe then they’d wake up!”

Kazuichi rolled his eyes, “If that’s all it took, don’t you think they’d all be up by now?”

“Do you bring any news?”

“They were seeing weird vitals about multiple people, wouldn’t it be awesome if like all of them woke up at the same time?”

“That would be pretty awesome,” Kazuichi agreed.

“Then we could have an even bigger party!”

“Hell yeah!” Ibuki was great to talk to because Kazuichi understood her, at least most of the time. Gundham, on the other hand, was one riddle after another. 

The three of them ate breakfast together, Gundham was quiet most of the time, focusing his attention on the cat circling his legs more than the other people at the table. Kazuichi wished he was better at cheering people up. 

He caught Gundham picking at his food, and his juice was untouched. He very clearly wasn’t feeling like himself, but with Ibuki around Kazuichi didn’t want to say anything that would embarrass him. 

He had passed out on the beach yesterday though, he should make sure he was eating and drinking enough. Kazuichi couldn’t help the frown that was growing on his face, even as Ibuki was telling him some story about one of her concerts that sounded fabricated. 

“You good?” she shook him out of his thoughts. 

“I’m always good,” Kazuichi forced a grin. He turned his gaze towards Gundham, “you gonna finish that apple juice?”   


Gundham shrugged. 

“It’s good for you! Akane made me drink a bunch of gatorade! She said if I didn’t she’d fight me!”

“Owari would not win a fight with me,” Gundham said with much less energy than usual. 

“Then I’ll fight you instead,” Kazuichi rolled his eyes.

“You would lose even worse, Owari is in much better physical shape than you.”

“Wow, thanks man.”

“I’m gonna go see if Hajime will let me back in,” Ibuki announced, her plate was cleared in front of her. “Hope you feel better Tanaka.”

“Thank you for the concern.”

As Ibuki left, Kazuichi glared at Gundham, “I don’t want you passing out again today, you’re not easy to carry.”

“I told you I won’t be passing out again.”

“Did you sleep at all last night?”

Gundham shrugged, “probably.”

“Probably isn’t good enough!”

“I appreciate your concern, but it is not necessary, I assure you, I can handle myself.”

How to convince Gundham he needed to take better care of himself, that was the question. “I’m no expert on magic, but I feel like sleep is probably important, like you need to refill your magic gauge or something, right?”

“Magic gauge?” Gundham frowned, “you clearly weren’t lying about knowing little about magic.”

“Yeah, obviously,” Kazuichi rolled his eyes, “a nap might do you some good either way, though.”

Gundham’s eyes were lingering on the glass in front of him, “sleep is avoiding me.”

Kazuichi wasn’t surprised, “memories keeping you up?”

“Laying around lingering on them will do me no good,” Gundham said. 

“Yeah, but sleeping might,” Kazuichi crossed his arms over his chest, “what usually helps you sleep?”

“Nothing in particular.”

“I heard warm milk helps some people,” Kazuichi pondered, “and white noise. Oh I bet they even have that stuff- uh melanin! I bet they have that at the store!”

“I’m assuming you meant  _ melatonin, _ ” Gundham cracked the tiniest of smiles. 

“Yeah I said that on purpose,” it hadn’t been on purpose. 

“There is one thing,” Gundham muttered, and Kazuichi was all ears. There was a long pause. “The night before last, when I-” he grumbled something under his breath so low that Kazuichi couldn’t even begin to make it out.

“You don’t have to be like that,” Kazuichi rolled his eyes.

“Your energy seemed to help,” he mumbled.

“Oh,” Kazuichi said. That was sort of unexpected. Nothing he couldn’t handle, though. “You mean when we,” he mustered all of his strength, “slept together?”

Gundham’s face was noticeably pink. “It seems your presence soothes my own magical essence,” he was avoiding looking directly at Kazuichi.

Kazuichi rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a bit awkward about the whole situation.    
“Well, if it’s for your health it’s not weird, right?” 

“I aim to make you as comfortable as possible,” Gundham said, “I know that, considering what I mentioned to you yesterday, you may assume I have ill intentions, what with how the term “sleeping together” can be interpreted-”

Kazuichi reached out and laid a hand on Gundham’s arm, “hey, I told you I don’t care about that,” he meant it completely, especially now that he was questioning his own sexuality. “I know we’ve never been close, but you’re not completely awful, and honestly after what we went through in the virtual reality together, I wouldn’t mind getting to know you better.”

Gundham’s face softened. Kazuichi hadn’t originally planned on going all sappy, but he was glad he did because Gundham looked a little less worked up. 

“We can head back to my place,” Kazuichi continued, “if that’s okay with you?”

Gundham nodded. 

Kazuichi pushed open his front door, and was welcomed by the darkness of the inside of his room, he hadn’t opened his blinds that morning. Gundham followed close behind, the cat that  _ really  _ needed a name was managing to balance on his shoulder like a bird.

He didn’t know how he was supposed to initiate taking a nap, of all things. He slipped his shoes off and left them near the door. Gundham followed his lead, leaning down to unlace his boots. 

Kazuichi’s bed was still undone, and he hoped Gundham wasn’t a clean freak or anything. He figured he must not be, because he hadn’t complained any of the other times he had been in his cottage. 

Kazuichi sat down on the edge of his bed. If Gundham was a girl, this would be much easier. He could grab her hand and lead her to bed, crack a stupid joke and hope she laughed. He could let her snuggle up to his side, and pull the blankets up over both of them.

Gundham definitely wasn’t a girl, and he didn’t seem to get his humor most of the time. He didn’t seem to hate physical contact though, and Kazuichi already knew he liked cuddling, even if he wouldn’t admit it.

Gundham finally finished getting his boots off, and he headed towards Kazuichi stiffly. 

“We need to give that cat a name,” Kazuichi commented offhandedly. The cat in question had hopped off of Gundham’s shoulder and was investigating the room. 

“She’s worthy of a powerful name,” Gundham said. 

Kazuichi looked her over, “what about, like, Spot?”

Gundham looked as if he had been personally offended, “I hope that was a joke.”

“Well, what’s your suggestion?”

“Something that indicates her power, like Plasma-C.”

“That sounds kind of threatening,” Kazuichi, “How about Static?”

Gundham glanced down at the cat, “she approves of that.”

“Oh?” Kazuichi smiled, “Okay, Static it is.”

They fell back into silence, this time it felt a bit warmer. Kazuichi busied himself, adjusting his pillows, and pushing back his sheets so he could get comfortable. If this was happening he might as well be comfortable. He scooted towards the wall, and Gundham began to take off his jacket. 

Kazuichi was glad Gundham was being quiet, he was already embarrassed about basically agreeing to lay down and take a nap with him, he didn’t need any side commentary. 

It was soon obvious that Gundham was taller than him, as he laid down next to Kazuichi. His legs bumped into Kazuichi’s, and Kazuichi impulsively tried to scooch away; unfortunately there wasn’t very much empty space to move into. 

Gundham didn’t seem bothered, instead more focused on his own comfort, he snuggled into one of Kazuichi’s pillows and slung an arm over Kazuichi’s chest without a word. 

Kazuichi tried his best not to make a noise of shock. He didn’t think he was tired enough to fall asleep, but the warmth of Gundham’s arm atop him was comforting. He slid one leg closer to Gundham and he responded by throwing one of his own on top. He was practically holding Kazuichi like he was a body pillow. 

It felt nice, Kazuichi let his eyes slide shut. 

“Souda,” Kazuichi was startled by Gundham’s voice a few minutes later, he had been close to falling asleep. Gundham was talking quietly, close to Kazuichi’s ear. 

“Hmm?”

“Thank you,” he mumbled, “I needed this.”

Kazuichi couldn’t help but smile softly, he raised one arm to rest his hand on top of Gundham’s, which was still pressed against his chest, he couldn’t bring himself to think about the implications of the gesture. “I’m here for you,” he said, and opened his eyes just slightly. He was surprised to find Gundham staring back at him.    


Gundham leaned a little bit closer, his eyes flicked downwards slightly. Oh so  _ this _ was happening. It was a split second decision, either pull back or let whatever was going to happen happen. He must have been feeling adventurous in that second, because he ran his hand up Gundham’s arm until it was touching the back of his neck gently. He felt the other man's breath on his face, and suddenly there were lips on his own.

Gundham was kissing him. His lips were soft, and Kazuichi barely had time to take in what was happening before he pulled back. Kazuichi’s eyes snapped open and he was met with a view of Gundham’s face closer than he’d ever seen before.

It had been nice, and it had ended too quickly. Kazuichi took advantage of his grip on the back of Gundham’s neck and pulled him close again clumsily. Their lips mashed together, and Kazuichi took control; Gundham let out a small noise of surprise, but didn’t resist. He didn’t seem to be a very experienced kisser, but neither was Kazuichi. He felt Gundham shift beside him, moving both of his hands up to hold Kazuichi’s face softly. It was sweet, and it didn’t really match the way Kazuichi was ferociously attacking his lips, but Kazuichi loved it.

They kissed until they were out of breath, and when they pulled apart they pressed their foreheads together, neither of them saying a word. Kazuichi was surprised he wasn’t more freaked out inside, of course he was a little freaked out, he had just made out with Gundham Tanaka (a  _ man _ ) in bed and he  _ liked  _ it. In fact he’d like to do it some more. A small voice in the back of his head was reminding him Gundham was supposed to be sleeping, though. 

“Hey,” Kazuichi said.

“Hi.”

“You should get some sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

Gundham pulled back a bit, he met Kazuichi’s eye, “okay.” He readjusted until he was comfortable again. 

Kazuichi drifted to sleep thinking about whatever the hell had just happened, and how he was going to react once it finally hit him that it had actually happened.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> also feel free to follow me, @gundhamhell on twitter!!!


	6. secrets

Kazuichi woke up with no sense of what time it was. He hoped he hadn’t been out for too long, he still wanted to go see what was going on at the facility, or what  _ had  _ been going on anyways. 

He cracked his eyes open, Gundham was still out cold, which was good because he needed it. But it was also sort of bad because Kazuichi was hit with the realization that what had happened between them definitely hadn’t been a dream. 

He and Gundham had kissed and then fell asleep together, it wasn’t a thing a straight man did, that’s for sure. He hadn’t even figured that shit out yet! Was he bi, then? He certainly liked kissing Gundham, he didn’t really want to kiss any other guys, though. Was it possible to be gay for like, one person?

Gundham shifted slightly beside him; what did  _ he  _ think about it? Why had he kissed him in the first place? Kazuichi felt his heart rate increase, did he want more than this? If he did, would Kazuichi even be able to give him what he wanted? He had been sure he was straight until like a couple days ago! 

There was still light flickering into the room through the small cracks in the blinds, which was a good sign. Kazuichi attempted to move, but Gundham’s leg was holding him down pretty solidly. He sighed, and worked up the nerve to grip Gundham’s shoulder and shake it lightly. 

Gundham grumbled something under his breath, and opened his eyes slowly, he was drawing circles on Kazuichi’s chest with the hand that had been resting there. “What’s the time?” 

“I don’t know, you’ve got me trapped.”

Gundham smirked and his eyes slid closed again.

“Hey! No, I want to get up!” Kazuichi pushed him lightly, and Gundham surprised him by laughing in response. Not like a crazy, evil laugh, but a regular, everyday laugh. Kazuichi liked it, he wanted to hear it some more.

Gundham stretched out, looking a bit like a cat, and then sat up, freeing Kazuichi in the process.

“I’d still like to see if anything happened at the facility this morning,” Kazuichi said, looking Gundham up and down, he looked a little less like he was on death’s doorstep now that he had gotten some sleep. 

“I’ll accompany you, if you’d like,” Gundham said. 

“You don’t have to,” Kazuichi rested a hand on the other man’s shoulder, “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“In that case, perhaps I’ll go see what Mistress Sonia is doing.”

Kazuichi felt a strange pang in his chest, he hadn’t thought about Sonia in a while, he’d been too focused on Gundham. That wasn’t like him at all. Gundham seemed to have noticed the odd expression on his face, because he was staring at him curiously. “Yeah, that sounds good, I’m sure she’d be glad to see you.”

Gundham frowned, “are you feeling alright?”

“Of course! I feel great!” Kazuichi glanced away. 

“Do you regret-”

“No!” Kazuichi exclaimed before Gundham could even finish the question, “of course not!” He really didn’t regret it, he was just a little confused. “Um, do you?”

“No,” Gundham said firmly, “I’d like to do it again.”

Well damn, he could be forward when he wanted to be. Kazuichi grinned and leaned over, one more kiss couldn’t hurt. 

He felt Gundham smile against his lips before he kissed him back. This time they took things slower. They were still sitting up next to each other in bed, and Kazuichi took advantage of his position to move so that he was halfway on top of the other man, he rested one hand near Gundham’s hip and the other on the back of his head, running his fingers through his soft hair. 

Gundham reciprocated eagerly, one of his hands running up Kazuichi’s back, the other pressed into his thigh. It was amazing and Kazuichi didn’t want it to end. Gundham’s tongue flicked out against his bottom lip and Kazuichi couldn’t help the sound that escaped him, it was closer to a moan than he’d like to admit. Gundham didn’t seem to mind it at all, in fact he seemed to like it quite a bit, the hand on Kazuichi’s thigh gripped him tighter. 

Kazuichi took the liberty of adjusting so that he was practically straddling Gundham’s lap, Gundham moaned into his mouth and it sent a shiver down his spine. He never imagined Gundham would be so good at making out. 

Kazuichi slid one hand up underneath Gundham’s t-shirt, exploring the bare skin on his back. Gundham ran one hand up into Kazuichi’s hair. Needy was the only word that came to mind when he thought about the way Gundham was kissing him. 

Gundham pulled Kazuichi as close to himself as he could, their chests were touching, and they stayed that way for a while. Kazuichi was in the middle of wondering if Gundham wanted to take this further when they were very rudely interrupted by a loud knock on the door.    


Kazuichi jumped backwards, “coming!” he called out, he was breathing heavily and he was sure he looked completely dishevelled from both making out and taking a nap. Gundham was leaning back against the wall, face red and eyes wide. 

Kazuichi pushed his hair behind his ears as he stood up, taking a deep breath and glancing back at Gundham once more before heading towards the front door. 

He was greeted by Hajime, who was bouncing up and down on his heels anxiously. “Thank god,” he sighed at the sight of Kazuichi.

“What’s up?” Kazuichi hadn’t opened the door enough for Hajime to see Gundham inside the room. 

“Have you seen Gundham?” Hajime asked, “Sonia was worried, I told her I’d ask around- oh and also we saw some weird vitals at the facility this morning, where have you been?”

Kazuichi opened his mouth to reply, but stopped when he felt heat radiating against his back, he twisted his neck and found Gundham towering above him. “I’m here,” he announced, “I was just going to check on her.”

“Ah,” Hajime looked a little confused, and Kazuichi was praying internally that he wouldn’t ask why they were together. “Well I’m glad you’re fine,” he directed towards Gundham, “make sure you’re eating enough, no one wants you passing out again.”

“As I’ve already mentioned, I won’t be passing out again,” Gundham said firmly. Kazuichi’s stomach was doing somersaults, he was beyond paranoid that Gundham was going to say some weird suggestive shit about them to Hajime for absolutely no reason. It made no sense for him to even worry in reality, because Gundham never really overshared about himself. In fact, Gundham rarely ever talked about himself besides all the demonic stuff, Kazuichi barely knew anything about him past that. 

So he probably wouldn’t tell Hajime that they had just been making out in his bed. 

“Do you want to come to the facility with me then, Kazuichi?” Hajime asked, “I was about to head back.”

“Sure man,” Kazuichi grinned, “let me just throw on some shoes.”

“I’ll meet you by the gate,” Hajime nodded, and left Kazuichi and Gundham alone staring out the doorway.

Kazuichi let out a sigh of relief, and shut the door. Gundham was still standing close enough that they were almost touching. Kazuichi glanced up at him briefly before heading towards his shoes, “hey man, uh, this is weird for me to say, but could you like not mention- er-  _ this  _ to anyone?”

He couldn’t see Gundham’s face, as he was very focused on finding his shoes, but he knew the silence was lasting a bit longer than usual. “You have my word,” he said as Kazuichi began to tie his laces.

“Thanks, I knew you’d understand.” He finally turned to face Gundham again, and found that his expression had changed. He looked almost… disappointed? “I’ll see you later, okay?” He slapped his hand against Gundham’s arm awkwardly, “say hi to MIss Sonia for me!”

“I will pass on your greeting,” Gundham said flatly, watching Kazuichi head towards his own front door. The whole situation was a bit backwards. 

“You can chill here as long as you want, don’t worry about locking the door,” Kazuichi swung open the door. Gundham was still watching him with that weird expression on his face. What did he want? Kazuichi had no clue and he felt incredibly awkward, so he waved and walked out his own front door, shutting it a little bit too quickly.

He needed to meet up with Hajime and stop thinking about Gundham being weird, Gundham was always weird, he was sure nothing was wrong.

Hajime was waiting where he said he would, near the gate to the resort. He hadn’t had time to spend much time with Hajime one on one in a couple of weeks, and he was happy to have the opportunity even if it was just a walk to the facility.

“You and Gundham seem to have been getting along pretty well lately,” Hajime commented, and suddenly Kazuichi was a lot less excited to spend time with him. 

“I’ve been trying to help him out, he’s been having a hard time with memories coming back and whatnot.”

“I’m sure he appreciates it,” Hajime smiled, “he’s a good guy, I think, he just expresses himself, uh, differently.”

“Sounds about right,” Kazuichi was glancing down towards the concrete. “I just appreciate all you guys did for me, I thought helping him out would help repay you even if it was just a little bit.”

“You don’t have to think like that!” Hajime scolded, “we all went through this together, no one is expecting payback.”

“Well, either way, it feels good to help someone in need.”

Hajime nodded, and thankfully left it at that. “So, Peko, Terureru, and Nagito were all showing signs of waking up this morning, none of them have yet, but we’re hoping it was a good sign.”

“Wow, all three of them?” Kazuichi’s eyes widened, “that’s great! Right?”

“Yeah, it would be awesome, and also a handful to take care of,” Hajime sighed, “some of them will regain worse memories than others.”

“Right,” Kazuichi frowned, “at least we get to be together again, it’s a miracle they’re waking up in the first place.”

“True,” Hajime nodded, “it’s the one upside of all of this.”

They were already nearing the facility, Kazuichi wondered if anyone else would be there. 

The atmosphere of the facility always made Kazuichi uncomfortable, the inside looked like something out of an early 2000s sci-fi movie, and it was always too cold. The lighting was dim and the pods glew neon green. The sound of multiple heart monitors was always off putting as well. 

Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko were already inside. Fuyuhiko sitting next to Peko with his head resting in his hands, and Hiyoko standing next to him. Kazuichi hadn’t seen Hiyoko since she had woken up, she’d been staying inside her cottage almost 24/7.

Fuyuhiko glanced towards the door when he heard it open, Kazuichi had a feeling he’d been there all morning. 

“How’s it going?” Hajime asked, heading towards the large section of vital monitors pressed against the wall. 

“It seems like everything stabilized,” Fuyuhiko said, “I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

“Sounds better to me,” Kazuichi said, “as long as they don’t go down, ya know?”

“I would have to agree,” Hajime said, “we’ll just have to keep a close eye on it.”

“How’s Gundham doing?” Fuyuhiko asked.

“Good,” Kazuichi nodded fiercely, “much better, actually.”

Fuyuhiko gave him a funny look. “That’s good.”

“Sorry I wasn’t around this morning,” Kazuichi crossed his arms over his chest, “I was helping him out.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Fuyuhiko turned his attention back towards Peko. 

“Good to see you, Hiyoko,” Kazuichi grinned, she was being unusually quiet. 

“I could have gone without seeing you,” she replied sarcastically.

“Wow, thanks.”

They kept up the small talk for a short while, Kazuichi was glad he had come to visit, but he didn’t want to stay any longer than he had to, it was cold inside the building, and he was ridiculously scared someone was going to realize he was hiding something. It was already late in the afternoon, half the day had been blown by napping.

Kazuichi wondered what Gundham was up to, was he still with Sonia? Maybe he should have asked him if he wanted to get dinner together. Like a date? Did he want to go on a date with Gundham? He thought about it for a moment, and decided that  _ yes,  _ he would like to go on a date with Gundham, because then he’d probably get to kiss him some more. 

The thought made him smile involuntarily, he was walking back to the resort by himself, hands stuffed in the pockets of his jumpsuit. It was beautiful outside, he’d love to go to the pool or have a bonfire at the beach. Maybe he could ask Ibuki what kind of party she was planning on throwing.

Walking through the gates to the resort, Kazuichi decided he’d head to the restaurant to find something to snack on. As he approached the pool, he found Ibuki standing near it, staring into the water. “Hey!” Kazuichi waved. 

Ibuki looked up at him, “oh hey!” She smiled.

“I was just thinking about you,” Kazuichi said, “I wanted to help you plan that party you were talking about.”

“Oh, awesome!” She spoke loudly, but she looked like something was bothering her.

“You okay?” Kazuichi frowned.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Ibuki nodded, “just been rough the past couple days.”

“I know how you feel,” Kazuichi sighed, “wanna get something to eat with me?”

She smiled more genuinely, “sure.”

Inside the restaurant, Kazuichi was delighted to find that Gundham and Sonia were sitting at a table together, plates and cups piled in front of themselves. “Hi!” Kazuichi called out. 

Gundham glanced in his direction, then glared, and looked away. 

What was that all about? Kazuichi’s stomach sunk. Was he mad at him? For what?

He headed towards a different table uncomfortably. Did Gundham change his mind about him? Was he revolted by the sight of him? This felt worse than when Sonia rejected him, and Gundham hadn’t even said anything. 

Ibuki had sat down a few seconds ago, and she was looking up at Kazuichi curiously. “Did something happen?” She asked. 

“No, nothing,” Kazuichi sighed, and sat down across from her. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> what's a fic without some drama? thanks again for all the support so far!


	7. misunderstanding

Kazuichi stared up at the ceiling. It was morning, and he still hadn’t talked to Gundham. Every time he had seen the other man the night before he made a point of either glaring at him or ignoring him. Kazuichi couldn’t even figure out what he had done wrong, and he was too afraid to ask at this point. 

Had he changed his mind, just like that? He didn’t seem to regret anything the last time they had talked, before Kazuichi left with Hajime, what had changed since then? 

Kazuichi’s stomach rumbled and he groaned aloud. He had  _ liked  _ the way things were going with Gundham, why did this have to be so difficult? Maybe he should just man up and approach him the next time he saw him. 

He figured he should at least leave his cottage, for all he knew someone could have woken up in the middle of the night. After those weird readings the day before, he had no clue what to expect. 

The shower was calling his name, it definitely had been more than a couple of days. He got out of bed and turned on the hot water. The last person to use his shower had been Gundham. Kazuichi sighed, he was not going to think about that right now.

The hot water felt great hitting against his back, but he couldn’t get his mind off of Gundham. He wished he could ask someone for advice, but then he’d be outing himself, and that was exactly what he didn’t want. Who could he even turn to, Hajime? Fuyuhiko? The thought of admitting to anyone that he was having a sexuality crisis made his face burn. 

Being with Gundham like  _ that  _ though, felt so nice; right even. He didn’t just want to kiss the other man some more, he wanted to learn more about him, his past, his interests, his favorite TV shows, everything. And also the kissing was really good, and sitting in his lap was great because he was taller than him, and the way his hands felt digging into his thighs was incredible. He wondered what would have happened if Hajime hadn’t interrupted them the day before. Would Gundham have wanted to take it further? Was he into that? 

Kazuichi had never had a reason to fantasize about a man before, but he figured if he was really going to go through with this whole sexuality crisis, he might as well let his mind wander. 

He’d seen Gundham undressed before, just the other day when he had come out of the bathroom with just a towel around his waist. Kazuichi hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but looking back, Gundham had looked good,  _ hot  _ even. With his hair wet and falling into his eyes, and his surprisingly defined V-line on display. Kazuichi wished he would have taken advantage of the moment instead of rushing to throw clothes at him. 

His mind turned back to them making out the day before, if Hajime hadn’t shown up he could have taken off Gundham’s shirt and explored his chest with his hands. Would Gundham like that? Or would he be the one to take the lead? Kazuichi felt his face heat up as he imagined Gundham being impatient, pulling at Kazuichi’s t-shirt, unbuttoning his jeans, sliding his hands underneath his waistband. 

Kazuichi took a deep breath, he had lost himself in thought for a minute, almost forgetting he was standing in the shower; luckily the hot water never seemed to run out, the perks of living at a resort. 

He hadn’t had much alone time lately, and when he had he’d been so worried about what was going on around him that he really hadn’t enjoyed any of it. Now, standing in the shower thinking about everything he wanted to do to Gundham was probably the best he’d felt by himself in weeks. Even though he was still worried Gundham was mad at him- that could be fixed, he was sure of it.

He bit his lip, he was still distracted by the thought of what Gundham would look like turned on and naked, standing in front of him. He wanted to see it badly. 

He had to go apologize to Gundham, he decided, turning off the water. Not just because he was half-hard and wanted to make out, but because he realized that he  _ really _ liked him, and wanted him to know it.

He spent a couple minutes drying off, and making sure his hair looked okay, he was planning on hiding it beneath a hat anyways. He wasn’t dressing to impress, but he also didn’t want to look like shit if he was going to attempt to talk to Gundham. 

His favorite jumpsuit was fine, he decided. Static had woken up and was meowing loudly, what a pain, she wanted food, most likely. He bent down and pet her for a moment. He wouldn’t admit it, but the cat was growing on him. 

Stepping out into the morning air was always a nice feeling, his plan was to head to the restaurant and eat, and then look for Gundham afterwards (if he wasn’t already there). Static was trotting behind him as he walked down the familiar path towards the hotel lobby. The area around the pool was empty, as he had pretty much expected it to be. 

Climbing up the stairs to the restaurant, Kazuichi realized he was nervous. What if Gundham was there and he just ignored him again? He thought he hated the feeling he got when Sonia rejected him, but somehow he felt like if it was Gundham it would be worse. 

Entering the restaurant, he let out a sigh of relief. The only person he saw inside was Hajime. He looked up at the sound of the door opening, and waved. Kazuichi smiled in return and headed towards the table he was sitting at. “Good morning,” Hajime said as he sat down across from him.

“Hey man,” Kazuichi replied, “how’s it going?”

“Nothing to report today so far,” Hajime said, “but the day just started.”

“True,” Kazuichi glanced down at the table in front of him. “Have you seen Gundham today, by any chance?”

“No, I haven’t,” Hajime shrugged, “I kind of figured you two would be together, honestly.”

Kazuichi shook his head, “I think he’s pissed at me, honestly.”

“What did you do?”

Kazuichi frowned, Hajime’s tone of voice was accusatory. “I don’t even know what I did,” he grumbled in response. “He’s just being a drama queen probably.”

Hajime pursed his lips, he had always been pretty good at reading people, could he tell something was going on between him and Gundham? “You weren’t harassing Sonia, were you?”

“No! I haven’t even talked to her in a few days!”

“Can I ask you something personal?” Hajime asked, and Kazuichi’s stomach sank. 

“Uh, yeah sure,” he probably looked like he was panicking. 

“You and Gundham are just friends, right?”

Kazuichi had figured the question was coming, but actually hearing it out loud made him freeze up. He didn’t even have a solid answer for himself, let alone Hajime. “I, well, yeah of course we’re just friends!” It was probably the most unconvincing lies he’d ever told. 

“I’m not judging you or anything,” Hajime held his hands up defensively, “in fact, I’d be happy for you.”

Kazuichi sighed loudly, “it’s sort of complicated, I don’t even know what’s going on,” he admitted. It felt better to get off his chest than he had expected. “I thought maybe things were going down the more than friends route, but now he’s avoiding me and I don’t even know why.”

“You didn’t say anything insensitive?”

“I mean, I don’t think so,” Kazuichi had tried to recall the last conversation they had multiple times already, and each time he didn’t remember saying anything particularly offensive. 

“You know he’s sort of,” Hajime paused as if he were looking for the right word. “I think he’s more sensitive than he lets on.”

“I know,” Kazuichi nodded. “He doesn’t like people to see it, I don’t think.”

“I guess I’m just saying, maybe he interpreted something you said wrong,” Hajime glanced upwards, the door to the restaurant had opened behind Kazuichi. He spun around in his chair to see Sonia and Gundham walking into the room. His eyes widened and he couldn’t help himself from glancing towards Gundham’s face. 

Gundham looked tired, almost as bad as he had looked the day before before he had taken a nap. Kazuichi wasn’t surprised that he hadn’t slept well. Gundham made eye contact with him, but it didn’t last very long, Sonia was pulling on his arm, dragging him off towards a different table.

Kazuichi knew he had to say something, and now he felt even more pressured with Hajime sitting across from him. He glanced back towards Hajime, who was giving him a look that involved raised eyebrows. Kazuichi let out a deep breath, it was time for him to man up.

He stood up stiffly, Gundham was still sitting down at the other table, adjusting his jacket so it would land right. Kazuichi walked around the side of the table, Sonia was watching him, and he’d usually love the attention, but right now it wasn’t her’s he wanted. 

Kazuichi cleared his throat, “hey.”

Gundham finally acknowledged his existence, looking up at him with a scowl. “What is it you want,  _ mortal _ ,” he said the word like it was an insult.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Kazuichi said, holding his ground as firmly as he could manage. Ignoring Sonia’s dirty looks. 

“About what?” Gundham sounded disinterested. 

“About why you’re pissed at me.”

Gundham rolled his eyes, “I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“Oh come on, don’t act like a little kid,” Kazuichi crossed his arms over his chest, “do you really want me to say it?”

“Say what?”

“You haven’t talked to me since yesterday when Hajime came over and I don’t know why!” The words came out whinier than he intended. “I want to know what I did wrong!”   


Gundham blinked, then glanced towards Sonia, then back at Kazuichi. “Can we discuss this in private?” He asked, voice a little less harsh than before. 

“Um, yeah, okay,” Gundham had taken him by surprise.

He stood up abruptly, grabbed Kazuichi by the arm, and began leading him towards the stairs that led to the lobby. Halfway down the flight he stopped and looked at Kazuichi intensely. “You are sending mixed signals,” he declared.

“ _ What _ ?” Kazuichi didn’t even know what to say to that, “how? I’ve just been trying to talk to you!”

“You made it quite clear what your intentions with me were,” Gundham said, “I’m not interested in that sort of… Relationship.”

“What?” Kazuichi had no clue what he was talking about, “if you don’t want to date, that’s cool I guess, but I don’t think I even mentioned that, did I?”

Gundham was frowning, but this time it seemed more out of confusion than anger, “You said, you didn’t want anyone to know,” he said slowly.

“Well, yeah I did say that,” Kazuichi bit the inside of his lip, “but it wasn’t because of you, it was just,” he took a deep breath. “I’m straight,” he said, which sounded completely ridiculous. “I mean, I thought I was straight up until like two days ago- and I just wasn’t sure I wanted everyone to know that I-” he glanced down at the floor. “I wanted to make sure I understood my own feelings before telling anyone anything.”

Gundham was looking at him with wide eyes. “I owe you an apology,” he sounded sincere, “there seems to have been a misunderstanding on my part.”

Kazuichi blushed, “ah, no man it’s partially my fault-”

“I will make up for this,” Gundham promised. He took a step forward and gently picked up one of Kazuichi’s hands, “I apologize, I have a proposition for you.”

“Huh?” Kazuichi was distracted by the way Gundham was holding onto his hand.

“I enjoy your presence,” Gundham said, “would you still like to train with me? I would still like to work on increasing your magical potential.”

Training? It sounded more like he was asking him out on a date… He tore his eyes away from his hand and towards Gundham’s face, which was making an unusual expression. He was smiling, but it looked forced. “Yeah, I’d like to train with you, I promised I would yesterday, remember?”

“Yes, of course,” Gundham let go of his hand finally. 

“Are you okay?” Kazuichi asked, “you look tired.”

“There is no reason for you to worry,” Gundham said. “Would you like to eat breakfast with me?”

“What about Miss Sonia?”

“I believe she had somewhere else to be,” Gundham said flatly. 

“Oh, okay,” Kazuichi still felt like something was off, but he was glad Gundham was talking to him again. It hadn’t even been a full day, but those however many hours had been torture. 

They walked back up the stairs into the restaurant, Kazuichi felt sort of awkward that Sonia and Hajime had both witnessed that, but oh well. 

As they re-entered the dining room, they were met with a surprise neither of them had been expecting. Both Hajime and Sonia were gone, but someone was standing in the middle of the room. Someone who was supposed to be in a coma. 

“Peko?” Kazuichi couldn’t help but say her name aloud, how was she even here?

She turned around to face them, and Kazuichi was taken aback. She looked angry,  _ scary  _ even. “You!” She yelled and dashed forward. Kazuichi barely had time to react, she had something in her hand- something sharp, like a knife.

Gundham was standing right next to him, eyes wide, he didn’t seem to have any magic tricks up his sleeve. Without thinking, Kazuichi shoved him to the side, if anyone was going to get hurt, it was going to be him. 

It was a blur of motion and then nothing but darkness.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter was hard to write, and also sort of all over the place oops thanks for reading guys :)


	8. care

Gundham Tanaka had never been good at dealing with violence. Of course he’d seen more than his fair share of it, and had definitely caused a lot of it during his time as a remnant of despair (a time he wished he hadn’t have remembered), but he couldn’t force himself to move after being shoved to the side by Kazuichi. He couldn’t do anything but watch as Peko raised her fist in the air, the handle of the knife she was holding was pointed downwards. 

It was only seconds before Peko had slammed the blunt end of the knife down on Kazuichi’s head. He collapsed to the floor almost immediately. Gundham wanted to check on him immediately, but Peko had switched her attention towards Gundham. Luckily, he wasn’t defenseless. He was trained to deal with situations like these, it was all a part of having demon blood, and more magic than most mortals could ever hope to acquire. 

Peko jumped towards him, she was wearing an expression that led Gundham to believe she was possessed. Peko’s temperament was generally much milder, as far as he recalled anyways. She was coming at him clumsily, which he could take advantage of. After dodging one swing of her arm he was able to catch her wrist in one hand. Luckily he managed to catch the hand holding the knife first. Peko yelped, and tried to yank her arm away from him. 

Luckily, Gundham was stronger than he looked. Peko was squirming, which was irritating, but he was still able to catch her other arm. With both of her wrists in his hands he tried his best to meet her eyes. 

“Why are you doing this, mortal?” Gundham asked sternly. He kept his eyes on her, but he hadn’t forgotten Kazuichi was sprawled out on the floor a few feet away. 

She didn’t respond, or perhaps she  _ couldn’t  _ respond. She must have just awoken from her coma, but Gundham could barely stand after he had woken up. He needed help, he could only hope someone noticed she was missing. Wasn’t someone on guard duty?

Peko was snarling at him in a way most people would describe as animalistic, but Gundham knew animals, and he knew this expression was one that only humanity could offer up. He was good at understanding animals, but he wasn’t very good at understanding humans. 

Peko was struggling to get out of his grasp, if she hadn’t just woken up from a coma she probably would’ve been able to overpower him, she was the ultimate swordswoman afterall (he wouldn’t admit that aloud to anyone though ). 

As if someone could read his mind, he heard noise coming from the restaurant stairs. Heavy footsteps, multiple people most likely. Gundham could see past Peko’s shoulder, and felt a great sense of relief when Akane and Fuyuhiko came into view at the top of the staircase. 

“Peko!” Fuyuhiko was the first to rush forward, clearly impulsively. He and Kazuichi seemed to have that in common.

Peko twisted her neck as far as she could with her limited ability to turn; her expression only changed slightly when her eyes landed on Fuyuhiko. 

“She is distressed,” Gundham said, careful not to let go of Peko’s wrists. 

Fuyuhiko stormed over, “let go of her!” He demanded.

“She is dangerous at the moment,” Gundham tried his best to keep his tone of voice steady. He could tell Fuyuhiko was upset, he was the closest to Peko out of all of them. 

Fuyuhiko scoffed, clearly not taking his warning very seriously, but Akane was being smarter. She ran up to Kazuichi and kneeled down, “what happened to him?”

Gundham replied by gesturing towards Peko. “He should be fine.”

Akane was lifting Kazuichi’s head up off of the hard floor, Gundham wished he could pay more attention to Kazuichi’s condition. 

Peko was giving the same murderous look to Fuyuhiko that she had been giving Gundham. Fuyuhiko seemed to have finally noticed Gundham wasn’t lying about her being dangerous. “H-hey,” he was looking at Peko, “it’s me-”

Peko didn’t say anything, she just stared at him. 

Gundham didn’t want to be the one responsible for holding her back any longer, if Fuyuhiko was so deadset on being near, then he could be the one to hold her wrists as she frantically tried to get away. He wanted to check on Kazuichi, even though he already knew the other man would be fine. The emotion was one that Gundham had always held mixed feelings for. Caring about someone tended to be inconvenient, he knew better than to let his feelings cloud any of his judgement, but he couldn’t stop the urge he had to rush to Kazuichi’s side and take care of him the way that he had been taking care of him ever since he woke up from the coma.

Fuyuhiko finally took control of the situation, grabbing onto Peko’s arm higher than Gundham was. He shooed Gundham away. Peko seemed to be resisting less now, perhaps she had tired herself out. What had caused so much anger after just awakening?

Gundham moved out of Fuyuhiko’s way, and finally dropped to Kazuichi’s side. Akane was sitting on the floor and had propped Kazuichi up so that he was halfway laying against her lap instead of the floor. Gundham was grateful for the gesture, and he was sure Kazuichi would be too if he was awake to see it.

“He got hit pretty hard, huh?” Akane asked, meeting Gundham’s eye. Akane was a kind soul, she was boisterous and probably one of the most extroverted people Gundham knew. He appreciated her presence, especially now. 

“I was caught off guard by Pekoyama’s sudden appearance,” Gundham admitted, “If it wasn’t for Souda it would be me in his position right now.”

“He cares about you a lot,” Akane commented, glancing down at Kazuichi. “You don’t have to admit anything, but I can tell he likes you so you better treat him well; or else I’ll have to fight you.”

Gundham had no clue that Akane had picked up on any sort of shift in his and Kazuichi’s relationship, but he was now aware that Kazuichi wouldn’t be very happy if he confirmed that there was anything more than friendship going on between them. He had no reason to anyways, Akane could make whatever assumptions she liked.

Gundham leaned over and laid his palm against Kazuichi’s arm, he could feel his pulse underneath his wrist, which was reassuring. “I can deal with him,” he said to Akane, “you should retrieve Hinata, he’s well suited to dealing with this sort of situation.”

Akane frowned, but she sat up straighter. “You take him then.”

Gundham tried his best to find a position that would allow her to move Kazuichi easily towards him. She shifted awkwardly to the side and Gundham helped rest Kazuichi up against his chest. When would he wake up? It should be soon, right?

Fuyuhiko seemed to be handling Peko well, Gundham figured he had been right about her running out of energy to fight with. The shorter boy was wearing a look of concern. 

Gundham glanced down towards Kazuichi, he was warm against his chest, it was a comfortable feeling. He ran a hand through his hot pink hair and was surprised by how soft it was. He still couldn’t understand why he held such strong feelings for the mechanic, they had come on so suddenly he was almost worried he had been taken under some sort of spell.

Deep down though, he knew why he liked Kazuichi. He radiated so much positive energy he was almost hard to be around sometimes, but underneath that layer he was caring and understanding, and he was willing to work through his own problems for the sake of others. If it hadn’t been for him, Gundham would probably be feeling much worse now, overwhelmed by the terrible memories he was being bombarded with. 

He felt Kazuichi move just slightly against him, and his attention snapped back to reality immediately. Kazuichi made a small noise and Gundham didn’t know what to do besides watch his eyes flutter open from above his head. 

“What?’ Kazuichi was clearly confused. Gundham hoped he didn’t have a concussion. 

“You’re okay,” Gundham said softly, Peko and Fuyuhiko were still standing close by, but their attention seemed to only be on each other. “Pekoyama got you.”

“Ugh, really?” Kazuichi turned to face Gundham, he didn’t seem fazed by their close proximity. 

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Gundham said.

“Done what?”

“Pushed me out of the way, she could have harmed you gravely with that knife.”

Kazuichi’s face went from a frown to a grin that showed off his sharp teeth, “you’re really gonna scold me for being your knight in shining armor?”

“It isn’t funny,” Gundham frowned, “you shouldn’t be so rash.”

“I’m fine though!” Kazuichi bumped him in the chest lightly with one fist. Gundham frowned, and reached up with both hands to catch the fist in question. 

“I can tell you don’t care to listen to anything I have to say on the matter.”

Kazuichi was glancing down at the hand Gundham was holding gently. He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted before he could say anything.

“Help me out you idiots!” Fuyuhiko yelped. Kazuichi seemed to only notice just then that he and Peko were still in the room.

Kazuichi attempted to leap to his feet, but he stumbled in the process, grabbing onto Gundham’s shoulder for support. 

Peko had slouched over in Fuyhiko’s arms. She had apparently fainted while Gundham was distracted by Kazuichi. 

“Go sit down,” Gundham said, and Kazuichi surprised him by listening, pulling out a chair at the nearest table. As soon as Peko was dealt with, Gundham was planning on making him drink a large glass of water. 

Gundham stood up, intending to help Fuyuhiko set down Peko gently. As soon as he wrapped one hand around her arm, the sound of footsteps alerted him. Akane and Hajime had returned. 

“Ibuki was supposed to be on guard,” Hajime was saying, “it was only a short shift too…”

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Akane shrugged.

“Someone needs to find her,” Hajime sighed as he headed towards them. Gundham was relieved that he wasn’t going to have to deal with the situation much longer, he’d much rather deal with Kazuichi, who was staring off into the distance looking very out of it. 

Hajime had a way of being able to take over a situation as soon as he entered the room. He’d had the same trait back in the virtual reality, but in the real world it seemed even stronger. Gundham attributed it to the remainders of Izuru Kamukura that still inhabited his mind. Gundham wasn’t entirely sure how that whole situation really worked, but he trusted that Hajime had himself under control. 

Hajime crouched down beside Gundham, they had managed to bring Peko towards the floor. Her eyes were closed, and Gundham assumed she was unconscious, but she was making a face that said she was in pain. 

“I got this,” Hajime had turned to face Gundham, “you can go deal with Kazuichi.”

Gundham attempted to read Hajime’s face, but the small smile he was wearing seemed to imply he knew more than he was meant to. 

Either way, Gundham stood up and headed towards Kazuichi, who was staring off into space. “Are you alright?” Gundham asked, looking down towards the other man.

“Yeah, just thinking,” Kazuichi said, still staring straight ahead. 

“I’m worried that you may have suffered a concussion,” Gundham frowned, “look at me.”

It took a moment, but Kazuichi forced himself to blink and then glance up towards Gundham. “My head hurts, but I think I’m okay,” Kazuichi said, “I’ve had a concussion before I’m pretty sure I’m fine.”

Gundham wanted to ask how on earth he’d gotten a concussion before, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted the answer. “I will go get you some water,” Gundham sighed, and was about to turn around and head towards the kitchen, but was stopped by Kazuichi grabbing onto the sleeve of his jacket. 

“She’s gonna be okay, right?” Gundham assumed he was referring to Peko. 

“I can’t imagine she wouldn’t be,” Gundham said, “she is a strong young woman, she has just been through the same situation all of us have.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Kazuichi glanced downwards, “it’s hard to watch sometimes.”

“What is?”

“Seeing everyone go through so much pain. No one deserved what we went through.”

Gundham’s frown deepened, he hadn’t expected Kazuichi to be going down that line of thought at the moment. “We cannot dwell on the past, we have so much ahead of us.”

“You’re right,” Kazuichi sounded upset, he was still holding onto Gundham’s sleeve loosely. “Do you think maybe we could get out of here? I could use some fresh air.”

“Yes, of course,” Gundham helped pull Kazuichi to his feet, making sure he was steadier than he had been earlier when he was getting up off of the floor. 

“You got this?” Kazuichi asked Hajime. He and Fuyuhiko were still crouched on the floor next to Peko. 

“Yeah, for sure,” Hajime didn’t sound very sure of himself, but Gundham had faith he was being honest. 

They headed down the stairs that led directly outside, and the fresh air felt better than Gundham expected. Kazuichi rushed ahead, heading towards the pool. Gundham was slightly worried he was going to fall. 

“You know I was just thinking,” Kazuichi called from up ahead, “how come no one ever uses the pool, ya know?”

Gundham didn’t want to say that it was probably because people had other, more pressing issues at the front of their minds, and that it was hard to think about swimming after everything that had happened. “Perhaps they cannot swim,” he said instead. 

“Yeah maybe,” Kazuichi didn’t sound convinced. He was sitting down on the cement by the side of the water, and prying off his shoes. 

Gundham watched him quietly. Kazuichi was hard to figure out. He had stripped off his socks and rolled up his pant legs so he could put his feet in the water. “It’s nice to just stop thinking about it sometimes,” he commented. 

Gundham didn’t see the appeal of sitting on the hard cement, but he stepped forward so at least he was standing next to Kazuichi instead of lingering behind. 

He never imagined that Kazuichi Souda would be the one he was chasing after.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter did not want to cooperate with me aahhh

**Author's Note:**

> just recently played through sdr2 and I couldn't stop thinking about these two, any feedback is appreciated :)


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